Helmets are Hardly Heroic
by Apprentice Writer
Summary: The problem with armour is that it doesn't always stay on. The Commander couldn't help but remember that his helmet didn't have a strap under his chin to keep it on.
1. The Tip of a Helmet

**It's been a while since I wrote a fancition, but after seeing the ending of Mother 3, I could not help myself. This fic was partially inspired by With These Hands and Captivity, which was both amazing fanfics that I suggest you read. I thought, however, how would it turn out if the situation was reversed, and it was the Masked Man that ended up captured.**

**This is my first Mother 3 Fanfiction and I have know knowledge of the other Mother games. I hope that it turned out well. Thank you for clicking on this fanfiction.**

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Getting within ten feet of the Masked Man was considered a bad idea, but someone had to do it. Duster and Boney didn't have PSI that they could rely on. Besides, if they didn't distract the man, he'd go after their two PSI users. It was a basic rule of battle to protect the healers, in this case Lucas, and Kumatora had already taken a decent amount of damage.

Despite everything, they were doing quite well in this battle. The Franklin Badge was a real life saver. It was the only thing that kept Lucas and friends from being killed by the Masked Man when he first attacked them. It didn't really even the odds though. The boy was surprisingly fast, using both a sword and cannon. Even worse, he somehow knew PK Love. The team had never been on the receiving end of the spell before. Now it made a lot of sense why it was considered an extremely powerful PSI.

The Masked Man was slowing wearing down. He slashed and cut at the two melee fights near him, but he seemed to be the one taking more damage. Every time he cut Duster or Boney, they were healed up by Lucas or, in rare cases, Kumatora. If the Masked Man could get to them, the battle would likely end much quicker, but it was hard to get past the other two.

The boy fought with very few tell signs. It was hard to tell when he was going to attack, let alone whether he was going to use his sword or cannon. They'd eventually adjusted to his patterns. However, he did give off signs for his strongest PSI attack, PK Love. It was as strong as Lucas'. Despite having pulled more needles than Lucas, they were still at the same level. It felt like the Masked Man was holding back a bit, but nobody wanted to think of the possibility that this boy got even stronger. For all they knew this one could be PK Love Omega, and none of them could take that.

Duster decided he had to act fast. They may be winning, but one PK Love could change the flow of this battle. The tall man moved in close for a powerful kick before the Masked Man could launch his next attack. As always, the air cracked with the speed that the thief could kick at. It wasn't something the exhausted Masked Man could dodge. The kick smashed into the back of his head. He was saved only by his helmet, but there was no doubt that it must be hell on his eardrums every time that thing was hit.

The thief still had more to do. Two kicks, three kicks, he had gotten in a good five before the Masked Man raised his sword to stop Duster. The last kick ended up pulling up to avoid the blow. That's when it happened. His foot caught, though Duster hadn't noticed at first. Up went the helmet, clattering onto the ground. The Pigmasked Troops gave a shocked squeal. Nobody had seen the commander without his mask before.

He had the same face as Lucas. Everyone froze, or at least they tried to. Duster hadn't been the only one planning to attack. Boney was already in the air. Dog's eyes weren't quite as good as human's but he knew this face. The dog wanted to stop, but the momentum carried on his leap. He smashed into the boy, causing him to tumble. The Unmasked Man could take no more damage after this point.

His body sparked out of control. When he tried to stand, his robotic body went into spasms and collapsed back onto the ground. This only made the Pigmask squeal even more. Terrified of anyone that could take down the Commander, the soldiers ran back to their ships and took off. The Masked Man could fly away on his own. Or at least, he normally could.

Even though he could normally fly away, the Masked Man didn't open up his wings. Instead he kept trying to stand and get to his helmet. It was a difficult work, as his limbs kept going out of control. The orange haired boy took nearly a minute before he could get to his feet. It was enough time for the group to unfreeze.

"Claus?" Lucas asked quietly. After the Tanetane island incident, he was a lot more careful of things that looked like his brother. But why would the Masked Man of all people look like his brother? He didn't even put safe mushrooms in his omelettes anymore. This couldn't be another hallucination.

The Claus look alike didn't bother to answer. He didn't even act like that was his name. Instead, he struggled to get to his feet and slowly moved towards the discarded helmet on the ground. It was slow progress. His robotic parts were in low on energy, as he was low on PSI. The robotic boy knew he would not be able to make it to the helmet before the others chose to strike him down, but he could not be without it.

Though he was nervous that the robotic boy would attack him, Lucas pulled the boy he thought to be his brother into a tight hug. The other boy didn't seem to know how to react to this. The Masked Man didn't resist the embrace, but it didn't stop his slow shuffle towards the helmet. Lucas' feet dragged across the ground as the boy went. His brother sure had gotten strong over the years.

"Claus? Don't you remember me? Why are you fighting with the Pigmasks?" Lucas kept asking questions but the other boy gave him no answer. Within ten feet of the helmet, the red haired boy's body could no longer move. It sparked a few more time before he collapsed onto the ground.

Lucas kept his grip on his brother and held him off of the ground. He was much heavier than Lucas had remembered, but he was just happy to have his brother with him. He seemed to have forgotten about the other members of his party, but they were approaching. Boney reached them first. He sniffed the air, trying to find that familiar Claus smell. If he focussed hard enough, he could find some, but it was mostly hidden by the smell of metal and chemicals.

"Lucas?" It was Kumatora that had the courage to speak first. "You keep calling his Claus, and he face is like yours. Does that mean he's…?"

She didn't need to finish her sentence. Lucas was already nodding. He didn't care if the boy didn't remember him or had been the Masked Man up until now. His face, his smell, his everything was just like Claus'. This was the twin brother he had been missing for so long.

"This is my brother, Claus. Dad's been looking for him in the mountains all this time. He never checked the Pigmask army, though. That explains everything. That's why Dad never found him. He must have hurt his head or something. That's why he didn't come home." Lucas' tone was hopeful. The others looked less confident than the boy. They didn't believe it was all that simple.

"He's still part of the Pigmask army. Doesn't that mean he's still our enemy? The Magypsies even said that they couldn't feel any heart in him. Plus the robotic parts. He might have been your brother but he might not be himself anymo-" She was trying to be nice about it, but the moment that Kumatora had suggested that Claus was no longer himself, Lucas seemed to get rather upset

"If he's not himself anymore, I'll just remind him of who he used to be!" The boy pulled his brother even closer to himself. Boney rested his head on the stomach of the robotic boy. He let out a low whine.

"(Duster lost his memories too. We can just get Claus' back,)" the dog suggested. This would normally have earned him a petting, but not right now.

"And how are we supposed to take care of him? What about when he wakes up and tries to kill us again?" Kumatora spoke rather harshly. She felt a hand on her back and looked back to Duster, who was shaking his head. They had both known that trying to convince Lucas that his brother couldn't be saved was useless, but the pink haired princess had tried anyway

"Maybe Ionia has a way to keep him from using PSI. Then we can just hide his weapons," Lucas continued to speak hopefully. He never took his eyes off of his brother's face. He hadn't even realized that Ionia had made their way over to the group.

The pink haired Magypsie hadn't expected to see them all still out here. They would have thought the group would be about to pull the needle. The blood and burn marks all over the ground finally tipped them off to why it had taken them so long. The ancient humanoid couldn't help but sigh. They would finish digesting those pickles of theirs before the group even thought to pull the needle.

"Well now, here I was thinking you all would be ready to pull out my needle. So why is it you're all sitting around on the ground?" Ionia placed their hands on this hips as they scolded the group. It didn't take them much longer than that to notice Claus. "Oh, it's the boy from the Drago Plateau. If I remember correctly, he was the one that I taught PK Love before little Lucas-"

Ionia stopped there, a suddenly realization hitting them. Flint, the boy's father, had been looking for him and if Ionia remembered correctly it was some kind of life or death situation. It would explain why the boy never returned. Magyspies weren't evil creature, but little things like human lives meant very little to them. As such, they hadn't thought about the red haired boy their had taught PSI very often. If he died, he would be like the many people that they had taught before. A human life was just the blink of an eye to the Magypsies.

"So this was the other one pulling out the needles? Well, well, well… That explains more than I would like it to." Ionia moved closer. "What do you plan to do with him?"

"We're going to take him with us, of course!" Lucas exclaimed before anyone else could answer. "As long as he is with us the Pigmasks can't pull anymore needles! He can stay, right?"

The blond looked at the other members of the party franticly. Boney was the only other one that really wanted Claus there, but none of them could deny that keeping the boy with them was for the best. It was that or kill him. Killing the boy who looked like Claus would turn Lucas against them, so that was an impossible option. That left them only with the option to bring him with them.

"Well, first, we should get the poor dearie all healed up. I know I said to pull my needle right away, but I can't have you doing that with such a big weight on your shoulders. We can wait a few days, right?" Ionia covered their mouth and gave a low pitched giggle. "Come now, let's go back to my house. Until he gets a little better, he can use my bed."

Ionia gestured for them to follow as they headed back to their house. Lucas attempted to pick up his brother and carry him, but he was a lot heavier than he should be. Lucas was a strong boy, but was tired from the fight. The group decided it was best for Duster to carry the boy on his back. That didn't stop Lucas was walking right beside his crippled friend, making sure that his brother didn't wake up and wasn't in pain.

None of them bothered to bring his helmet along.

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**If you've made it to this point, thank you for reading the first chapter.**


	2. Good Sensations

**In response to a review I got on the last chapter, you probably figured it out, but I wanted to drive into the plot as soon as possible so I rushed the first chapter a bit.**

**As I said in the first chapter, the fic in only partially inspired by the two others. It's also inspired by the Forgeries from Deadman Wonderland. Want to know how that is? Well, you'll just have to read and find out.**

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The Commander's memories were out of order. He had only been alive for three years, or so he was told, and as such remembered those three years vividly. There were gaps, but everything else was so vivid, it felt like the day before. He remembered waking up in the lab and being told that he was to be the Commander of the Pigmasks. The boy didn't need to hear more than that. There was no need to think, he just followed orders.

What he did not understand was that he sometimes he remembered the time before he obeyed orders. He remembered faint, whispered conversations about how he was impossible to tame and would become useless if they completely erased his will. Something about his will being important when it came to using PK Love, yet he could use it now, so they had to have come up with a solution. He had some faint memory of that solution as well.

First were the pills, one in the mornings and one at night. They kept him obedient and unfeeling. That was until they started to make him sick. That's when they came up with a better method. The helmet had the same effect. Unlike the pills, it worked via electromagnetic pulses. The Commander very much liked those pulses. They felt good. Not in the way that happiness felt, but it felt like a good sensation. That was when the vivid memories started.

Those foggy and missing in some places, he had some evidence that the foggy memories were real. At least the ones with the helmet were real. He remembered this because of he had once heard the doctor who programmed him being scolded for being too gentle with the commander. Master Porky did not like the fact that the Commander got the good feeling from the helmet. He ordered it removed and that the robotic boy be put back on the pills.

That lasted a short while. The Commander couldn't remember that time very well either. There had been some kind of problem, but that time was completely blank for him. He didn't bother to wonder why. The boy didn't need to think. The boy just existed.

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The red haired commander noticed something was odd when he felt something soft under him. Master Porky had him sleep in a small room with no bed. The Commander would not complain, though it made his body a bit stiff. The only time he laid on something soft was when he was with the doctor, who placed him on a soft bed. That, however, was nothing compared to the cloud like feeling he had under him right now. It supported him in all the right places.

There was another odd sensation was well. Something was on his stomach. He had originally thought it to be his cannon arm. It would not be the first time that he accidentally switched it to cannon mode in his sleep. It was too light though. It felt more like the weight of his own helmet.

The final odd sensation was the oddest of the three. Something was tickling this forehead. It felt like there was a breeze in the room. How odd, the breezes never got up under his helmet. That always kept his hair in place. Speaking of that helmet…

The Commander shot out of the bed. He moved so quickly that the area where his cannon arm shoulder have been attached sparked. The boy looked around the room. It reminded him a bit of Fassad's home on one of the false hundredth floors of his master's tower. There were no bananas, though, so it could not be the same place. It felt familiar for another reason as well. Besides, Fassad had no confidence in the Commander. He would never invite the boy to his house.

The first person he saw in the room was the pink haired girl he had fought before. If his memories were correct, she was Kumatora, the princess of the castle where he had pulled out the first needle. She was dangerous, but not so much that he could not handle her. Handling her…

"I failed my mission," the Commander spoke softly. He didn't speak often, since he was built for following orders, not giving them. His throat got sore if he overused his words. "Why was I not destroyed?"

"Don't ask me that. If you want answer on that, you're gonna have to wait until Lucas gets back." The princess looked away from him. The Commander took a moment to figure out that she was acting annoyed. Human emotions were not his forte.

"Lucas…" The name was so familiar, but he couldn't place it on any of the enemies. Kumatora, being a princess, was someone he would know about. The only information he had on the other were that one was a thief, one was a farmer, and the last was a dog. He hadn't actually been told the last one. He figured it out on his own.

"Yes, Lucas. If you wanna know why you're here, you'll have to wait until he comes back from the hot springs." So that was what was annoying her. The Commander quickly connected the dots. She looked a bit tired and annoyed. They much have left her behind to guard him while the others went to heal themselves. He must not have been out too long. That meant there was still a chance he could get back to New Pork City before Master Porky decided to punish him. Not that he ever remembered what his punishments were, just that they were terrible.

This was his chance. The boy pushed himself out of the bed and tried to activate his wings. He was fully preferred to abandon his weapons if that was what it took to escape from this place. They had likely been hidden. Activating his wings was as simple as thinking about it, thanks to him helmet. That is when he remembered.

"Helmet…" he muttered absentmindedly and placed a hand on his head. All he found was his mound of tangled red hair. They had taken his helmet. They had taken away his good feeling.

For the first time in years, and emotion bubbled up inside the boy. He was angry. That good sensation was all he had. It made Master Porky's punishments bearable. It helped him to keep from feeling pain and allowed to he control his wings and cannon arm. Without it, he could not change his arm's shape. He could lift it, a bit, but that was only because of the human part attached to it. The boy bit his lip and lifted his other arm.

"PK Love Omega." He hadn't been cleared to use this level of spell yet. Master Porky liked it when the enemy could struggle. Something about there not being true despair without a tiny flicker of hope. That meant nothing to the Commander. However, as he pointed his arm, he felt a second emotion, the despair that his master had been talking about.

The boy looked down at his arm, now assuming it as broken as the one that he had lost. What had they done to PSI? It suddenly hit the boy why this place looked familiar. It wasn't just because of Fassad. It was because he had been here once. It had been when he had knocked out the Magypsie who had lived here. A Magypsie… They would know how to seal away the robotic boy's powers. The boy continued to stare at his arm until he heard the girl talk. There was an odd tone to her voice. Oh, she was trying to hide a laugh.

"It was hard to make you drink it when you were out, but Magypsies have this wonderful drink that cancels out a person's PSI. I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of here," Princess Kumatora stated. "Lucas and I, though, we can still use our PSI, so you better not try to escape."

The princess placed her hands on her hips and smirked. The commander realized then that he really did not like being smirked at. It was not a good feeling. It didn't bring up any emotions, it just wasn't pleasurable.

"Helmet… Where is my helmet?" he asked. If she told him, he still had a chance to escape. It ran on PSI, though… He realized then that he was more concerned with the good feeling that the helmet gave him than he was about escaping

"Oh, that thing. It flew off in the battle. I don't know where it went. We were all a little… Distracted by your face."

Without thinking, the boy brought his hands up to his face and touched it. He was not used to being able to touch the upper part of his face. Well, except after showers, of course. A Commander couldn't walk around stinking of sweat. The boy accidentally touched his false eye. This caused the princess to flinch slightly, but it caused the boy no pain. Like his robotic arm, he had no feeling in it.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" The boy had never actually looked at his own face. He always wanted to put his helmet back on as soon as possible.

"You didn't know? I guess Boney was right about your memories," the pink haired girl sighed out. This was yet another mystery the Commander had to solve.

He sat down on the bed, trying to figure things out. He wasn't the best at doing his own thinking. Most thinks he did were order. Master Porky didn't like him thinking very much, so his orders were full of things to do in every possible situation. If it wasn't in his orders, he did not do it.

It seemed that this boy, Lucas, was the one that wanted something from him. All he had gathered from this conversation was that this Lucas was a PSI user. The princess had let that much slip. He suspected it also had to do with his face. The Commander wondered what was odd about it. If he wanted to, he could look at it in the mirror across the room, but he would much rather sit down. He was still tired from the fight.

If this Lucas was a PSI user, than meant he had to be the blond. Well, unless the two melee fighters were holding back. He did not like the thought of that. The Commander had felt the fight was almost even, but if one of them was holding back, he would stand very little chance of escaping from this place.

What could they want with him? Did they want to interrogate him? That would do them little good. He didn't know that many military secrets. They couldn't want him to pull the needle for their side. They already had someone to pull the needles for them. At the moment, the Pigmask Army assumed this was the princess, since she was a known PSI user. Some people suspected the blonde boy, but that was less common. The Commander remembered one of his soldiers suggesting it was the dog. Another of them quickly cleared up the fact that the other had been joking after the Commander tried to explain that dogs couldn't use PSI.

As if on cue, the boy felt something on his lap again. It was the head of a brown dog. Until now, he hadn't noticed the dog that had been in the room. The weight was familiar. This must have been what was resting on his stomach. It gave a small whine, but the Commander could not figure out what he was thinking. With his abilities sealed, he had also lost the ability to communicate with animals. It didn't seem like the other in the room had noticed, though. It was either that, or the princess didn't feel like translating.

"I can't understand you. Please get the princess to translate if you need to tell me something," the Commander said to the brown dog. This seemed to amuse the princess.

"Looks like the tea was more powerful than we thought. Boney was saying that he was glad to see you again," she translated.

The Commander looked down at the dog for a few seconds. He had only seen it a few times. Aside from the time that Fassad had fallen off of the Thunder Tower, every time he had seen the dog, he had attacked it. Before the last time, which he doubted the dog counted since he had been with them since, they had last met when his knocked out their entire party with lightning. The red haired boy blinked at the dog for a moment.

"You enjoy being electrocuted?" he asked, his voice completely void of emotion.

Apparently there was something funny about this because the pink haired girl burst into laughter. The dog also gave loud whine, but he sounded more unset than anything. The Commander took that as a no. He had to wait a good twenty seconds before the girl had stopped laughing, but twenty more for her to shake her head at him and wipe the tears from her eyes. The Commander was used to this. Whenever he did talk, his men would end up laughing like this. They said he had an amazing sense of humour. He assumed this too was a joke.

The dog whined again, looking up to the Commander with large eyes. This felt familiar. Without thinking, he brought his human hand up and stroked the dog's fur. It was quite soft. The commander continued to stroke the dog, who gave small whines every once and a while.

"We need to wait for Lucas to get back to tell him," the princess would answer. The Commander wished he knew what they were talking about, but it was out of his hands. What was in his hands was a whole lot of dog fur. He continued to stroke the dog until he heard the door open.

"Honey, I'm home~"

The first one to enter was a pink haired person. Or at least they looked like a person. He realized quite quickly that was the Magypsie he had knocked out a while back. It seemed they had found their way back to their home. He imagined they were the one that put him in this state. The anger came back to him and stroked the dog a little too hard. The brown dog gave a little sound of pain and pulled away from him. This caused the Magypsie to look to him.

"My my, looks like our sleeping guest has woken up. He sure had taken his time; it's been a few good days since you got here. Ah… Looks like those pickles weren't be my last meal after all, and I blame it all on you." Their tone was light. The Commander wondered if they were joking. Then he realized they had said he had been asleep for two days.

"Two days… Did the fight not just happen? Why were you at the hot springs if not for that?" he asked in a soft voice. Master Porky was going to punish him for sure. This scared him slightly.

"Well, I take a dip whenever I can. It's good for the body, you know. As for Duster and Lucas, well that's for other reasons." The Magypsies gave a little giggle into their hand and went over to their makeup table to reapply everything. Some had been washed off by the hot spring.

Next to enter was the tall man who had kicked off his helmet. The Commander was not sure whether to hate him or not. The man looked to him for a moment before looking away. If the Commander wasn't aware they were enemies, he would have thought that emotion was guilt. Why would someone feel guilty for their enemy though? Perhaps the heart of a loyal citizen lived inside this man and he felt guilty for attacking an officer while he was doing his duties.

The final person entered the room and the Commander felt something in his chest. Honest surprise showed on his face. If he could think of an expression to describe this, it would be that his heard had skipped a beat. This boy's face…He must have been special to make a non-existence heart skip. Did they both come from the same lab? Was he once a soldier? More importantly, why did seeing this boy only trigger this feeling now?

The boy seemed to be offended by this look. He made a face that the Commander didn't understand and began to run towards him. Naturally, he must want to strike him. The Commander stiffened his body and prepared for the blow. Instead the boy wrapped his arms around him. Ah, he must want the cruel attack of a snake trying to crush his victim. The boy was squeezing him quite hard. It was a little uncomfortable.

"You'll have to squeeze harder," the red head said as the blond continued to grip him. This got the other boy to look up at him with confusion. He went to clarify. "If you are trying to crush me, you are not applying nearly enough force. At this level, you are just making it a bit difficult to move."

The princess started laughing again. The Commander couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, but he decided not to bring it up. He wanted to figure out how to deal with emotions before he brought them up to anyone. At least the boy had been listening, as he squeezed the Commander even tighter. He even buried his head into the robotic boy's chest. The red head was about to tell the boy that he still wasn't squeezing tight enough, when the boy spoke.

"I missed you so much, Claus! Where were you all this time?! I was so alone, and Dad was looking for you all the time! Everyone else thought you were dead!" The boy had clearly lost his mind. He was acting as though they knew each other. He must be mistaking the Commander for someone else. Perhaps a family member. The Commander politely placed his working arm between the two of them and pushed the boy off.

"I do not know you. If I knew you, you would have known where I was. I have only recently left New Pork City, and I often return. Perhaps you are confusing me with a companion," the robotic boy said in a very clear voice. This only seemed to upset the boy more. For a moment, the blond looked like he was about the cry. The Commander felt his stomach drop. He placed his hand on his stomach to pull back whatever had dropped, but he felt nothing.

The boy stopped himself before he began to cry. The expression became one of the sad acceptance. This seemed worse to the Commander, though. He would rather tears. If there were tears, he could wipe them away and tell Lucas it would all be okay. He blinked at the thought. Why would he do that? He was programmed to be polite, but that just to be over doing it again. It would also be lying. None of this was alright at all.

"You really don't remember me at all… Even though I waited for you, you forgot about me." The words were so sad that the Commander felt a bit of emotion welling up in him. At this point, he decided emotions were bad and forced it bad down.

"How could I remember you? We have never met," he continued to insist. He really wished he had known this boy, just so he could make him happy. A happy blond boy was extremely important.

"Of course we've met! You're my brother! We're twins!" the blond yelled to him. "We lived together on the farm for nine years before you disappeared! Don't try to tell me that time never happened? Mom, Dad, Boney? Don't you have memories of any of us?!"

The Commander looked around to the other people in the room, looking for some sign of what to do. Should he lie? No, that would just cause problems later. He had a faint memory of someone telling him never to lie. Everyone in the room looked somber. Even the princess, who had been laughing not even a minute ago, was now looking serious. They were no help. The Commander decided to answer honestly.

"I have no memory of you."

The blond boy looked like the Commander had just stabbed him. He knew this expression because he had stabbed the boy before. The boy placed his hand over his head and scrunched up his face. She looked like he was going to fall to the ground. The Commander could not help but feel very guilty.

"Don't give up hope. Your twin might still be out there somewhere," he said without thought. The blond looked back up at him. "I never had a family. I was made in a lab. I can't be your twin. If I was. I would never have forgotten you. Surely your real twin could not have either."

The blond boy grabbed his hand and yanked him out of his seat. So much for comforting the boy. It seemed the boy was mad. The Commander stumbled as he moved his exhausted body forward. They reached the mirror. The Magypsie who had been applying their makeup moved to the side so they could see each other.

"Look!" the blond yelled. "Look at this and tell me that we aren't twin!"

For the first time, the Commander saw his real face. He looked into he own reflected eyes, and then at the boy. Suddenly, he felt very ill.

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**If you've made it this far, then you've completed the second chapter. Thank you. This fan fic loves you.**

**I had a lot more fun writing this chapter than I did the first one. For one, writing a very confused Claus is very fun. Secondly, I hate writing fight scenes.**

**If anyone took notice, I tried my best not to have Claus refer to anyone by name, just like how I refused to have anyone refer to Claus as Claus, except in dialogue. I won't be calling him Claus until he remembers who he is.**

**Well, until next time, and by next time I mean I'm already starting on the next chapter.**

**(Hehe, anyone that's read the later chapters of Deadman Wonderland can probably guess where I'm going with this.)**


	3. It's Still Not a Picnic

**If you haven't figure it out by this point, I'm writing this story solely so I can have more happy Lucas and Claus stories. They deserve happiness!**

**I'm focussing mostly on the fluff for now. I want to get the hang of writing this before I get to the real grit of the story. It's going to mostly be from the Masked Man's perspective, unless I feel some important things have happened that he would not be aware of.**

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From the time that they placed the Masked Man on the bed, Lucas had sat beside the boy and held his hand. A part of him believed if he held his brother's hand long enough, that the boy would wake up and remember him. Nobody seemed to bother him about it at first, but eventually his friends began to worry.

Kumatora had tried to cook him up an omelette, with horrifying results, and for once he had an excuse not to eat it. Duster and Boney were not so lucky. They had suffered horrible stomach aches as a result and ended up making so much noise that night that Lucas wouldn't have gotten any sleep even if he wasn't forcing himself to stay awake.

By the second day, Duster had to practically force him to get up and go to the hot springs with him. He had said that if the Masked Man wasn't awake yet, he wouldn't wake in the short time that they were away. Of course, that had been wrong. Even if it hadn't been, things wouldn't have gone as Lucas wanted.

* * *

The Commander felt all over his face. This was his face. For some reason, he always thought that he didn't have a human face under his mask. Perhaps the parts that were covered were parts of other animals. Perhaps the face of a pig. He knew how that would amuse Master Porky. He'd always assumed that was what he looked like. There was no reason to think anything else.

His face was the same as the other boy's. Sudden realization crashed down over him. This must be why the other boy thought they were twins. The Commander still didn't believe that, but there must be some kind of connection. Maybe they came from the same lab or the boy's real twin was his DNA donor. It still didn't make any sense to the robotic boy.

"This face… Did you change my face?" the Commander asked. It was a silly question, but he felt it was necessary. He had been asleep for a long time. They could have done anything to him in that time and he would not even have noticed. The noticeable lack of cannon on his arm was all the proof he needed on that matter.

"Why would I change your face? I have no reason to!" the blond boy yelled. He placed a hand on the Commander's back, trying to bring him closer to the mirror. This caused the red haired boy to flinch away. He backed up several feet until he felt something against the back of his legs. He flipped over the brown dog's back and landed on the floor. This seemed to make the dog worry.

He went over and sniffed the Commander's face. The boy didn't find this very amusing. As far as he was concerned, far too many things concerning his face had happened today. It didn't please him in the least. He wished he could have his helmet back and hide in it forever.

"I don't care if you did or didn't. This face means nothing to me, and should mean nothing to you." The Commander tried to sound calm ad he pushed himself to his feet. "Even if I look like you and your brother, it's just a coincidence. I have no family. So if that is all you want from me, you are free to destroy me now."

"Destroy you?" the blond boy asked in a surprised tone. It was as if the boy had never even considered that as an option.

"Yes, destroy me. I am your enemy. If you let me escape, I will just cause you problems in the future. If you keep me here, I will drain your resources." He was just warning them. The boy had been through this situation himself not too long ago. Apparently knocking the group out so they could not get the needle was not good enough. Master Porky had given him a punishment, which he had no memory of, and told him never to leave an enemy alive again. This last fight, he had been aiming to kill.

"I'm not… I could never destroy you, Claus." The blond boy shook his head. He looked upset again. The Commander's emotions tried to bubble up again, but he forced them down. He should never feel pity for the enemy. Pity was weakness and he was anything but weak.

"That's not my name. I'm the Commander. Don't call me by that name. Wouldn't your brother be angry if you called someone else by his name?" he said, for some reason finding he could not meet the boy's eyes.

"Why won't you believe me?" Oh great, he was getting that sad look on his face again. The Commander pushed himself back to his feet. The machinery in his legs, unusable thanks to his lack of PSI, creaked as he did so.

"Because I am not this Claus. I am the Commander. I was created three years ago to become Master Po-"

The boy cut him off. The Commander was unaware he could move so fast. It was rather surprising. His image of the boy was someone that always tailed behind him, someone who didn't like running or fighting, and as such would not be very fast. It seemed that wasn't true, or at least not anymore. The boy lifted up his good hand and pulled off his glove. He pointed to the scar on the robotic boy's hand.

"You got this scar when we were eight. You wanted to shear the sheep for Dad, but you grabbed the shears wrong and cut your palm. I started crying because I thought your hand got cut in half, but you just went and washed it off like it was no big deal." The boy traced the shape of the scar. It took the Commander a second to pull away and back up more.

"You must have just assumed I had cut myself on the hand at some point and used that scar to try and trick me. I am not easily tricked." A bit of anger entered the Commander's voice despite his best attempts to prevent it.

The boy frowned, but he hadn't given up. He covered his eyes with his hands. "You have a burn on the bridge of your left foot from stepping on a hot coal when Dad took us camping. You have a cut on your right shoulder from that time you brought a cat home to be Boney's friend, and she freaked out as soon as she realized he was a dog. Then, there's also one on your back from when you fell out of a tree and got cut by a branch."

The Commander froze. He knew about the first two. There were things he could see on his own. However, the one on his back could not be checked. He felt like he was about to shake. This couldn't be possible. But wait. They must have changed his clothes or checked them for weapons some time during those two days. That must be how the boy knew.

"You can't convince me of your lies. There is no possible way." The Commander turned away from the blond boy. He didn't want to see that sad face again.

The room was quiet for a little bit. Nobody was sure what to say. It seemed the blond boy had convinced the rest of the enemies of his delusion. He must be important to the group, either as the group's main healer or as the one who pulled the needles. They didn't seem to want to tell him the truth. They must know that the Commander wasn't his brother. The tension in the room continued to rise as nobody wanted to speak. It was Magypsy who broke the silence.

"Well, if that's all you two wanted to say, we should move on to more cheerful things. I know two boys who haven't eaten in two days, as well as a handsome man and a clever dog who threw up everything they ate." The pink haired Magypsy seemed the most relaxed in the room and their words caused the tension in the room to melt away. "Now, I would ask my darling Kumatora to make us all something to eat but she cooked yesterday, so…"

The Commander got the idea that the Magypsy was just using that as an excuse. He knew nothing about the princess' cooking, but if this was the way Magypsies treated it, it must not be very good. Not that he had to worry about it. The boy didn't eat. The doctors gave him pills to supplement food. Pills had had left on the ship. His stomach suddenly began to growl.

"See? Our guest is hungry. We can't go leaving a guest to starve like this. Duster, honey, could you make us all something? Perhaps an omelette? I would make it myself, but I'm afraid I'm no better at cooking than my dear Kumatora." The Magypsie giggled again. It could hardly be called a giggle, since it was so low pitched, but he didn't see it as a chuckle either.

The tall man with the limp gave a little sigh before heading outside to set up a cooking fire. Despite being able to, from what he had heard, Magypsies didn't eat often so there was no need for one to have a kitchen in their house. They didn't have a table either. It seemed the group would have to sit on the floor to eat. That wasn't a bother for the Commander, though. He didn't matter where or what he ate as long as he didn't starve.

The boy walked back over to the bed, wondering if he should go back to sleep. No, that was for lazy people. Even though he was permitted to sleep whenever he was not working, the Commander hated the emptiness of sleep. He only slept a few hours a night, whatever the doctors said was a safe amount for a boy his age.

Instead of sleeping, he sat there with his back turned to the rest of the group. He felt a pair of eyes on his back. He assumed it was the blond boy. He wouldn't acknowledge the other boy's claims any further. Hadn't he already said he piece on this?

The familiar weight found his way to his lap again as the dog came over. He should tell the dog to leave him alone, but he found it nice to pat the dog's fur. He had always had a soft spot for the animals, not that he could let Master Porky know that. The dog would whine every once and a while. After the third whine, the blond boy gave a surprised sound.

"You can't understand him?" he asked in a hushed voice. It was hardly a secret, but the Commander didn't like the fact the dog had said it. His petting grew rougher, but this time, the dog stayed by his side.

"He told you? Well, I cannot. My PSI is blocked by that thing your group forced me to drink in my sleep. Did he want to say something important?" the red head asked his doppelganger.

"He just wanted you to know that you're his family as well, and that he wishes you would remember him." The blond boy paused for a moment. "If you don't think your name is Claus, then what is it? Surely people have to call you something."

The Commander frowned. He stopped petting the dog and looked back to the blond. The boy had that hopeful look on his face again. The Commander wondered if this meant the boy planned to slap the name of his brother onto him if he did not have one. Unfortunately, that old memory stopped him from lying.

"I don't have a name, but the soldiers call me Commander. The doctors took to calling me Subject One before I was assigned my rank. The only other name I have been called is by Master Porky." The robotic boy turned back to his staring at the wall. "He calls me slave, his soulless son and toy. I suppose one of those could be used as my name."

He heard the sound of the boy moving from his spot. He didn't approach, but the Commander felt he probably wanted to. That was the most annoying part of it all. If the boy was going to try to do something, he should do it rather than holding back.

"Those aren't names… Please don't call yourself any of those." Here it came. The Commander was sure the boy was going to force the name onto him. "If you don't want me to call you Claus, I won't, but I need to call you something. Can you tell us all what you want to be called?"

The Commander was a little surprised. He was under the impression that humans didn't pick out their own names. Some changed their names later in life, but people rarely picked. He assumed that was going to be the other boy's excuse to call him Claus. This was also a good feeling. The Commander decided he liked being able to choose things for himself.

"Please call me Commander from this point forward. That is what I am most used to. It is not a bad name."

The boy made a sound like he was accepting that name. This was much better than being called Claus all the time. He didn't like stealing the name from some more than likely dead boy.

"My name is Lucas. It's nice to meet you, Commander, even if you aren't my brother." The blond boy was closer than he thought. He sat down on the other side of the bed and slid down next to the Commander. He pointed to the dog the red head had been petting. "This is Boney. He's a dog, but he's still a part of my family."

The brown dog gave a little whine and the blond boy, Lucas, leaned down and began to pet him. The Commander felt a little uncomfortable. He felt like he was intruding in on their little family.

"The others are Duster, Kumatora, and Ionia. Duster lived in the same village as me and my brother. He's a good guy, even if he did kick you before. I hope you two can get along." Lucas seemed happy when he talked about his companions, so the Commander stayed quiet and listened. Making Lucas happy was also a good thing. "Kumatora is the Princess of Osohe Castle, but don't call her that. She doesn't really think of herself as a princess. She's really tough and resilient. I was worried about her butting heads with you when I thought you were Claus, but she seems to think you are funny. Then there is Ionia. Th-"

"I have met them before." The Commander decided to finally interrupt him. "I was the one to come here looking for signs of their needle. I assumed I could find it without interrogating them, so I knocked them out and left them tied up. I was still unable to find it, however."

Lucas gave a little sound of surprise. It seemed that he knew something about this matter as well. The Commander didn't know how he had. Perhaps the Magypsy have informed him. "Well, you only knew them while there was out cold. To be honest, I don't know Ionia all that well. We travelled together for a while and they were the one that asked me to pull the needles-"

"So it was you. I suspected, but the Colonel seemed convinced that it was the princess," the red head explained. It made sense that the one that looked like him could also pull the needles.

"Don't call her a princess," the blond reminded him in a friendly tone. "Well, Ionia seems really nice. All Magypsy are a bit weird. I guess that comes from the fact them have been alive for some long. It must be awful to outlive all of your friends and family."

The Commander was quiet for a moment. "I would not know that. I do not have any family."

"Unless you're my brother." The blond boy didn't give up easily. The Commander didn't feel annoyed, though. It was just sad by this point. It made him wonder how precious a brother must be in this boy wanted his back so badly.

"You have still not given up on that. I will keep telling you I am not your brother, no matter how many times you insist." The Commander looked into Lucas' eyes for a moment. The heart skipping sensation started up again. He'd looked people in the eyes before, but there was nobody like Lucas. Nobody that pure and innocent. It made him feel dirty for looking at the boy. He broke eye contact immediately.

Lucas didn't seem discouraged, though. "You know, Duster lost his memory once. It took him a long time to recover it. Even if you can't remember being Claus, I still believe you are him, you've just forgotten. Duster didn't think he was Duster back when he was Lucky."

The Commander nodded. It still didn't explain a few things. "If you think I am your brother, then why do you not force me to be him? I am at your mercy at the moment. You could make me do anything you wanted."

This seemed to upset the other boy. He had the same old 'I've been stabbed' look on his face. Once that subsided, the boy shook his head rapidly. "I would never force you to be someone you don't think you are. If you're memories come back and you are Claus, then I'll be happy. But if you never were Claus and I'm just projecting my thoughts onto you, then you deserve to be who you want to be."

Lucas gave him a bright smile. The red head decided he wanted to see a lot more of that expression. This boy was the opposite of his master. He seemed to care about everyone around him and was happy to be around him. For a moment, the Commander found himself comparing the boy to the sun, but that was silly. He didn't make poetic metaphors.

"You are very kind. I wish I could be your brother." He found himself say this without thinking. Unfortunately, words could not be called back after they had been said.

They were saved by the limping man entering the room with a plate full of the most delicious things that the young Commander had ever smelled. He didn't go to the cafeteria very often, so he had very few things to compare it to, but it was certainly much better smelling than the porkchops one of his soldiers had offered him once.

The pink haired princess, Kumatora, gave a groan. "Omelettes again? We have those almost every night! Can't we have some nice pork chops or something?"

"Omelettes are Lucas' favourite, though," the limping man, Duster, said. "I thought he could use some cheering up. Besides, we always have so many eggs. I promise I'll make something else tomorrow."

"I think it's my turn to cook tomorrow. I was planning on cooking omelettes, but…" Lucas piped up. He had a strange tone to his voice.

"Quit teasing me, pipsqueak." Kumatora playfully shook her fist at Lucas. The Commander wanted to protect him for a moment. He hadn't realized they were playing straight away.

The Magypsy, who had found themselves a comfortable place in the far corner of the one room house, got back to their feet and moved towards a shelf. They pulled down a large blanket before moving to the center of the room and putting it down. They then went to get a pile of dishes.

"It will be like back in the old days. When she was just a little girl, Kumatora and I used to have picnics on the floor here all the time." Yet another manly giggle escaped the Magypsy.

Duster looked a little confused, but placed the large plate of omelettes onto the center of the blanket. "I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't think that it's still a picnic if it's indoors."

"It's a picnic if we want it to be," the pink haired girl said from across the room. She took the place farthest away from the Commander. No matter what the blond boy said, she didn't see to the like the soldier very much. It was no big deal to him. He didn't know her enough to care.

The pink haired Magypsy placed the plates all around the blanket and gestured for them to take their seats. Considering how little edible food have been consumed in the past few days, the group rushed to take their seats. The Commander found himself squished between Lucas and Boney. At least he could count on them to tell him if he was eating wrong.

It was noticeable right away that he had no clue what he was doing. He was the last to take his omelette, and though he tried to copy how the others brought omelettes over to their plates, he messed up three times before getting ti right. It didn't help that he was holding his fork like a sword.

The Commander refused to ask for help as he tried to get the first bit of omelette to his mouth. He could tell people's eyes were on him. Once he successfully got a small slice of the omelette onto his fork, Lucas finally spoke up.

"Are… You okay?" he asked in a quiet voice. He was asking like this was supposed to be embarrassing. Didn't he see the Commander couldn't feel embarrassment?

"I am fine. I just have never eaten solid food before." This surprised everyone around him. Perhaps he should have kept his voice down.

"Wait, like never?" Kumatora asked in a voice full of surprise.

"It's much more manageable to take pills instead of consuming food, since I am not sure what my robotic body will reject or not." He brought the food up to his mouth, but the others still seemed to want to talk about this.

"Then it might reject the omelette?" Duster seemed a little concerned.

"Not likely. If it does, I will simply be ill for a few hours." Or at least that was what the Commander had been told. He was ordered not to eat food unless necessary, so he had never tried it.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like it. Omelettes are amazing, and Duster is a really good cook." Lucas took a bite of his own omelette, as if trying to prove it.

Duster turned a light shade of pink and looked away. "I have more experience in cooking than Kumatora or Lucas, but I wouldn't say I'm all that good. Lucas is the real genius when it comes to omelettes."

Now it was Lucas' turn to be embarrassed. "I cooked them a lot. They were the first thing I learned to cook. They were my and Claus' favourite."

It finally hit the Commander. They must be planning to feed him omelettes so they could turn him into this Claus boy. If that was the case, he wasn't going to bother trying to enjoy the food. He would try to ignore it's good smell and just consume it.

That plan went out the window as soon as he took a bite out of this fluffy piece of heaven.

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**Thank you for reading this chapter as well. I hope it was to your liking.**


	4. I Trust You

**Thanks for all the nice reviews I got on the last chapter. I am amazed I got so many. I've never had a story this popular before~**

**This chapter, I'm warning you, has a bathing scene. Nothing shippy happens, unless you could an accidental Lucas/Duster moment (this is the second time that has happened in this fic alone) and a suggestion of KumatoraXLucas, I don't really wanna do ships. That's for another time and another place.**

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"Well we know that he can't handle omelettes now." The Commander couldn't figure out which one of the group said this, though he bet it was the pink haired princess. He bet she was enjoying his agony. He had no memory of eating before, and he also had no memory of vomiting. He had not taken the learning experience well. They paid by having to clean up his vomit.

"I don't think that it," said a nervous voice. "I just think he can't handle more than one omelette. The human body needs to adjust to food slowly."

The Commander really had only meant to eat one omelette. He now understood why he didn't make the plans, he just followed his orders. He had eaten more in this day than he had in his entire three years of life. No wonder it wreaked havoc on his stomach. After he took that first bite of omelette, he had found himself shovelling as much into his mouth as he could at a time. Someone had said something about choking. He was pretty sure it was Lucas because he took this chance to steal that person's half eaten meal. There were also a few extras in the middle of the table and he also…

His stomach hurt at the thought of those ones. The Commander had never had to control his eating before. After learning this lesson the hard way, he would be much more careful with his eating from then on out.

At the moment, he found himself bent over a bucket that someone had supplied for him. The omelettes were going out the same way they came in. Well, he was sure he would never make himself sick on them again. The memory of this strong smell of vomit was going to make them hard to eat in the first place. He would not complain if they were cooked again, though. He would never complain.

They were treating him kindly. He could even feel someone softly rubbing his back. It all became clear to the boy. The princess and the thief had been discussing him while Lucas softly rubbed his back. Boney had stayed back because he couldn't handle the smell of vomit and omelettes.

"I… I think I'm done," the Commander muttered, putting down the half-filled bucket. If he did throw up again, it would be from smelling the contents of that bucket, not from over eating.

"Are you feeling okay?" Lucas from behind him. His warm hand was still on the commander's back. Now that the other boy was feeling better, he made a point to shrug it away. Though he was no longer too tired to shrug it off, he was too tired to deal with Lucas' touches.

"I am not operating at one hundred percent efficiency, but I am not in any danger. As long as I do not eat another omelette, I will be fine." The Commander looked to the blond to reassure him.

Lucas seemed to believe his words. The blond by got to his feet and smiled down to the commander. He held a hand to help the other get up. The Commander made sure to ignore that hand. He could get up on his own, even if it was a bit difficult.

"Since you put some food in yourself, and then puked it all up, I think you need a bath." Lucas covered his nose. The Commander wasn't sure if he should be insulted by that or not.

"Bath? Ah, yes, a soaking…" The robotic boy really didn't like those, but they were a requirement. Every member of the Pigmask Army was required to bathe once a week. He was no exception to the rule. It just wasn't very enjoyable.

Master Porky seemed to object to the Commander doing things the human way. Instead, he had the Commander cleaned like one of the Pork Beans. Once a week, he would report to the room where they washed the vehicles and the on duty solider there would hose him down with lukewarm water. He was then soaked in chemicals that made his skin itch and soaked again. He smelled much better after that point, but it was an annoying process. The smell had never bothered the Commander. Unfortunately, he couldn't deny the boy's request. This was actually soaking day anyways.

"We can use the hot springs. There are some good ones really close to here." That sounded much more enjoyable than what he was used to. There was a problem, though.

"I do not think that is possible…" the red head commented. He looked down to where his cannon had been. As if it knew he was thinking about it, one of the wires sparked.

"O-oh, right… Maybe we could put something on it. Like a bag… Or a bucket…" The Commander would have been glad he didn't have to bathe if an idea hadn't occurred to him.

If just he and the blond boy went to the hot springs, he could escape. He could knock out the boy and run away. The Colonel was surely looking for him at the temple. If he could get there, he could get a new helmet and everything would be okay. He would be punished but it would be nothing compared to what Master Porky would have done if the Commander never came back.

"When it is sealed with the cannon, it becomes water proof. If you can return that to me, I will shift it into hand mode. There is a button for that as a manual option. However, I will not be able to use it as a hand. It will just make me water proof again. I need PSI to move it. Otherwise it is a glorified club."

The boy looked uncomfortable, but it seemed to be the only way. The Commander didn't realize he smelled so bad the boy was willing to give him a weapon to stop his stink. He should get the doctors to fix his sense of smell then.

The boy went over and talked with the princess and the man with the limp. They spoke in hushed voices, as if not wanting the red head to hear them. If his machinery was working, he would be able to hear them using his enhanced sense of hearing, but he could not. Instead he would have to wait for them to tell him something.

"Like hell we will!" Kumatora yelled and stomped her foot. It seemed she was resisting the idea. The other two seemed to be trying to convince her.

She must be the brains behind this group. Duster seemed too unsure of himself and Lucas was Lucas. For the life of him, the Commander could never see Lucas as a leader. He didn't even consider Boney. Sometimes he forgot that animals could speak. Chimeras were not very good at it, their thoughts all garbled due to the experiments done to them. If the Commander could help it, Kumatora could not come to the bath with him. He could trick Duster or Boney. Hopefully. Maybe even the Magypsy, but not the girl that already hated him.

After another few moments of discussion, Duster left the room. He must be going to retrieve the Commander's cannon. Of course it would be the tall one. He could see it now, Duster placing the cannon in some high up tree branch that the Commander could neither jump nor climb up to. He didn't know why he thought that. They probably had a better hiding place that that.

It was a bit later that the much discussed cannon was returned to him. He pushed a button and it morphed into hand form. He didn't like the hand. The fingers were too long and more difficult to use than his real ones. Once it was in arm form, he attached it to the wires and locked it into place. It was an interesting sensation, almost like cracking his knuckles.

"Thank you," the red head said to the much taller man. It seemed to please Duster than he was so polite.

"It's fine. I'm sorry I had to hide it from you. We weren't sure if it would work or not."

The way Duster spoke made the Commander uncomfortable. He wasn't treating him like an enemy. He knew Lucas was trying to make them be nice due to his delusion, but this man didn't seem to be forcing it at all. The princess, he knew was forcing herself to be polite. Duster was different. He was kind, but didn't seem naive like Lucas. This confused the Commander even more.

"You don't need to be sorry. Had I captured you, I would have disarmed you as well. Or rather, disfooted, but that is not a word." The red head wanted no more of this conversation. He turned away from Duster and looked back to Lucas.

"Can we go now? I believe my smell is making people uncomfortable." He needed to get out of here and escape. The boy felt as if he was about to lose his chance.

Lucas walked over to his bag and pulled out a few things. "Hold on. I need to grab a change of clothes for each of us. Oh, and I kind of had to promise Kumatora something, so please forgive me."

The Commander didn't need to ask what, as he soon found both of his hands tied behind his back. So they would need to tie him up. A clothing change would be involved. That meant that the boy would have that as a chance to escape the ropes.

"This is an acceptable outcome. As long as I do not drown, I am okay with being tied up." The Commander was only okay with being tied up because it meant it would just be him and Lucas. They must have confidence in the boy's skills, confidence that would soon be shattered.

Lucas smiled at him. It hurt to see the boy trusted him so much when he was already planning his betrayal. "Thanks for understanding. I'm got everything we need, so let's go. We'll be back soon."

The blond boy headed out of the sea shell shaped house. The Commander followed right behind him. He found that he did not recognize the area. Though he had been here before, he had not been looking as carefully as he could have been. This day without it made him realize how little his helmet made him care for the world around him. There would have been hundreds of beautiful things, but the boy would never have noticed.

He looked around the cliffs around him and nearly stepped off the cliff he was on. He had forgotten the fact one had to go up a rope ladder to get to the Magypsy's house. Now he had no idea how to get down. Nearly stepping off the edge had knocked a pebble off, which proceeded to bounce of Lucas. The boy looked up with concern.

"Cla- Commander, you need to stay up there until I get to the bottom. Then you can jump off and I'll catch you." Lucas was at the bottom by the time he said that. However, the Commander wasn't sure of this plan.

"Are you sure you can catch me?" he asked. His voice made his doubts clear to the other boy. Lucas pouted.

"How do you think than Boney gets down from ladders? Just jump!"

The Commander closed his eyes. "I will warn you, I am much heavily than Boney."

The red head didn't give his lookalike time to respond. He jumped off the edge and put his faith into Lucas. He didn't realize until the blond boy caught him that this was the first time he had really trusted someone. Trust was one of the most dangerous of emotions. He couldn't allow it to show up again.

"W-wow, you _are_ a lot heavier than Boney! B-but I'm a strong guy." Lucas allowed the Commander to get back on his feet. The red haired boy took a good look at the area before they continued on their journey.

The hot springs were not that far away, but there were a lot of dangerous creatures on the way there. It made sense to the Commander now why they had only tied him up. He had no chance of surviving without Lucas or the use of his arms. He had to rely on the other boy completely. By the time they had eventually made it to the hot springs, both boys were very tired.

"Don't tell Kumatora, but I'm going to let you use your arms while we're in here. You're going to need to wash places that I don't want to wash for you…" Lucas stood behind the Commander, undoing his restraints.

"Thank you." With his hands now free, he could easily attack the other boy. He didn't. Not yet. The plan wasn't finished yet. He needed a few more things to ensure his escape.

The Commander carefully undressed himself. He looked over to Lucas, who had already done the same. The other boy slid into the hot spring like he had been doing this his whole life. The commander, on the other hand, never had before. He nearly slipped on the first step into the hot spring.

"Watch out, that one is slippery. Duster fell over when we first came here," chimed the voice of the blond. He was as gentle and supportive as ever. "Even I had to be careful. Make sure not to rush on your way out."

The commander sunk down until the bottom of his face was under the water. It felt heavenly. There was a huge difference between soaking in hot water and having lukewarm water sprayed all over his body. He pulled his mouth above the water.

"Do you really come to these places all the time?" he asked in a quiet voice. "It feels so different from what I am used to. They used to sp-"

"Commander, I love hearing about your life, I really do. It's interesting, and it helps me understand you more. There are some things I don't want to know. Namely how to bathe." Lucas' tone switched to flat to something like a laugh.

"And yet you are directly across from me in this bath, completely nude. That feels like a contradiction." The Commander felt his lips curve down into a frown. It wasn't a scowl like what he wore was work, but an actual frown.

"Well, that's different. I can't see you through the fog," Lucas protested weakly.

"You can't see me if I tell you a story either," the robotic boy retorted.

The other boy gave a loud whine. "But if you tell me things, I'll start to picture things! I really, really don't want to picture you in the nude."

"I am aware. If you wanted to see that, you could have just turned around before…" This comment was met with a splash of water in the face. The red haired boy spit out some of the water than had gotten into his mouth. "If you are not interested in that, you could always just imagine Duster or Kumatora in my position."

The Commander heard the movement of water, but there was no splash for his face. He moved closer to Lucas to see what the source of the sound was. The other boy had his hands pressed up again his face as if embarrassed. The red head decided not to question it.

"It's alright to not want to hear my stories," he continued. "I do not talk often. To be honest, I feel like I have worn my throat raw with just this day alone. I find myself enjoying talking with you. You are… Interesting."

Lucas made a happy sound. At least the Commander thought it was happy. He couldn't see Lucas' face clearly enough to tell what his expression was. "I like listening to you talk too. I think, even if you aren't brothers, we could be friends. I think if we weren't on opposite sides on this conflict, then we would have already become friends."

The Commander shook he head hard enough it could be heard through the water. "I am not permitted friends. I am not permitted human things. I am a tool, and if Master Porky starts to believe I think of myself as any more important than any other tool, I will be punished."

He heard the soft sound of a gasp from across the hot springs. "That's crazy. You're a human, just like the rest of us. You have thoughts and feelings-"

"I had no thoughts until recently. I never needed to think. As for feelings, I don't have those at all." It was a lie. He felt horribly guilt for lying, but it had to be said. If he said otherwise he would be punished.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head.

_There was the face of a woman, a beautiful woman who looked like himself and Lucas, with brown hair instead of red or blond._

"_-s, I'm disappointed in you for stealing, but I'm more disappointed that you felt you had to lie about it. Don't you trust me? I'm disappointed… Disappointed…"_

_Suddenly the woman's face twisted into Porky's. His master gave a twisted grin and reached towards him._

"Commander!" Lucas' yell snapped him out of his thoughts. He found himself with his knees curled to his chest and his hands on his head. "Are you alright?!"

"Y-yes. I apologise. I… I was remembering something…" The red head continued to rub his head. He was beginning to get an awful headache. "It's none of your concern… I'll be fine in a bit. It happens every time I… Well, every time I lie."

Lucas didn't look happy to hear he had lied. "What did you lie about?"

"Emotions. I feel them sometimes, but they are so faint they barely count. They are a glitch in my systems. I am not supposed to feel them." The Commander retreated a bit away from the other boy, but he followed.

"Those aren't glitches, that's just part of being human." The soft hand was on his back again. It shouldn't be soothing, but it was.

"Do you really see me as a human?" the Commander asked in the softest voice he could manage.

Lucas' answer was much firmer, though. "Yes. You're human, and you deserve to be treated like you are. If that Porky is hurting you, then you should leave."

The commander went silent. He wanted to say how that would be traitorous and that he owed Master Porky everything. Those weren't the words that came out, though. "…Where would I go? I know what I am. I'm an unnatural freak. The Pigmasks are the only ones that want me, and that is only until I stop being useful."

He was pulled tightly to the other boy's chest. "You can come with me. You can go with our group during our adventure, and you can stay with me and Dad afterwards. You might not be Claus, but Dad's a good guy. He wouldn't turn you away because you're a little different."

There was the familiar silence. The Commander didn't know how to respond. He felt like he was in a good dream. If only he could dream. This was enough of this, though. This boy was making him second guess his loyalty to Master Porky. He stood up. Considering that Lucas was still sitting, he could hear this blond lookalike squeak and cover his eyes, having gotten an eyeful of something he didn't want to see.

"Damn it, Cla- Commander! Warn me before you do that." The boy splashed his face as if he was washing the sight from his eyes. "I guess this means you're done now, then."

"Yes… The heat is starting to make me unwell. Can we go back now? I only just woke up, but I am tired again…" It wasn't a lie, but he had a different reason.

"Fine, but I have to tie you up after you get dressed again. I'll try to be quick, okay? The clothes I brought should fit. We're around the same size." Lucas climbed out of the hot spring and began to dress himself. The heat of the room allowed them to dry very quickly.

"If I remember correctly, you were wearing my clothes when we first met…" The Commander wasn't sure if he should mention he only had three sets of that outfit, and now one was gone forever.

The clothes Lucas wore were very soft. They were a bit worn, but that also made them even softer. He enjoyed wearing them quite a bit. Once the clothes were one, he placed his arms behind his back as they had been held before. However, the steam allowed him to make a slight adjustment. The other boy hadn't even noticed.

Lucas tied him up carelessly. The talk had made the blond trust his read haired companion. Once the blond thought the other's ropes were tight enough, he gestured for the Commander to lead his way up of the cave. This was where the plan would begin.

The Commander's boot hit a rock. He looked like he had tripped. He could hear the sound of the other boy reaching to try and stop him from falling, though the Commander had really only fallen onto his knees. That was the Lucas' mistake. When he could feel Lucas right behind him, the red head swung his head back with a great force, smashing into the blond's face. He heard the awful crack of a broken nose. The blond ended up staggering back.

The Commander took this chance to slip out of his ropes. The boy had braced his arms a bit apart, and the careless Lucas had fallen for it. The red head placed his hand in front of him on the ground, allowing him to snake one leg out. All the talk of Duster and his helmet kicking ways had given the boy the idea. He pulled it up behind Lucas, causing the other boy to tumble back into the hot springs.

The robotic boy jumped up, planning to sprint out of the area. He was fast enough to dodge anything that came his way. The slippery steps would slow Lucas down. There was no way the other boy would catch him now. Or, that's how it should be, until he heard the splashing and half drown sounds the other boy made. It brought back something had had never recalled before.

_He was in the water with a blond boy. He reached from the blond boy. The blond boy couldn't keep he head above the water. The blond boy sunk under the water. The blond boy was dragged to shore. The blond boy wasn't breathing. The blond boy sputtered up water. The blond boy, the blond boy, Lucas sputtered up water._

The Commander was ripped from his memory by a furious sound. He never expected to hear such a sound from Lucas, not even during the battles. The blond boy practically threw himself over the rocks lining the hot spring. He charged and tackled the frozen Commander, sending them both crashing into the ground.

"I trusted you!" Lucas yelled. He forced the other boy's face down onto the ground. The commander hadn't expected such strength from him. "I was nice to you! I tried to do my best, and you tried to kill me!"

The Commander felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. The boy had struck him out of anger. It made him dizzy, but the Commander felt like he deserved it. The Commander felt lower than dirt. He was held down for a good three seconds before the other boy released him.

"I didn't want to hurt you. That's why I threw you in the water…" the Commander whispered into the ground. The other boy seemed to hear, though.

"Right… That's also why you broke my nose." The Commander couldn't tell if Lucas was even willing to look at him. The boy sounded angry enough to just leave him there to die.

"I'm sorry… I don't want to hurt you, but I had to…" The Commander found his face was surprisingly wet. There was water dripping from his eyes. Was he crying? The Commander had never cried before, yet here he was, crying over a lost battle.

He felt his arms being moved again. His arms were being tied back up. This time, it was so tight, he could never escape it. Even more so, Lucas wrapped the rope around extra time to be sure. When he was done, he tugged on it, forcing the other boy to his feet.

As they walked back to the sea shell house, the Commander could see the light of PK Life Up coming from behind him. It was likely Lucas fixing his nose. The monsters seemed to avoid them now, which was good. They were both a mess. As they arrived at the rope ladder up to the house, Lucas undid the ropes.

"Climb up. But don't try anything. I'll zap you if you do." Lucas' voice sounded rather dead. It unnerved the Commander, but he did as he was told. Up the ladder he went, and Lucas followed soon after. Lucas ended up being the first onto enter the house. The loud sound of someone dropping something glass greeted them.

"Lucus, are you alright?" Duster's voice was full of concern.

Kumatora, on the other hand, took to anger. "Did this Pigmask bastard do this to you? I swear I'll break his legs!"

The commander had no doubt she would. He was prepared for his punishments. Those that tried to run away were given the worst punishments. If that was true at some, it must also be true here. However, Lucas just waved off their concern with a cheerful voice.

"It's nothing. A chimera tried to come into the hot springs and we got a little roughed up. I even fell in. I already did the healing, but I've got to change clothes again," the blond lied easily.

The Commander didn't understand. This was the boy's chance to get rid of him for what he did, and yet he said it never happened. Instead, Lucas placed a hand on his back. "Come on. You can share my bedroll. I do trust you after all."

The Commander felt like he had been stabbed my hundreds of swords, all through his non-existent heart.

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**The next chapter is going dark places. Dark places that I actually had to research.**

**This is also the first chapter I didn't write before I published the previous one.**


	5. You Just Defined Complaining

**This chapter was the hardest to write so far. It's a bit darker than the others, but not as dark as I first intended. It was just too hard to write that way. I made it too fluffy.**

**Before I start, I received a review asking how much spare time I have. The answer is a lot. I've been out of school since April, and I don't have much else to do.**

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The Commander had trouble sleeping. This wasn't strange. What was strange was the fact he was squished into a sleeping bag with a small boy. To be more correct, a boy the exact same size and height as him. It was like Lucas was his clone, plus one arm, eye, and a different hair colour. Unlike the Commander, Lucas had fallen asleep straight away.

The Commander didn't understand him. Why would he trust a boy who had broken his nose and tried to escape. When they were coming back from the hot spring, the boy acted like he would never trust him again. Was this emotional blackmail? Such a thing wouldn't work on the heartless boy. If only he truly believed he was heartless. The sharp pain in the Commander's chest when he thought of Lucas' hurt expression was more than enough to prove to the boy that he was far from heartless.

His chest still hurt. He felt horribly guilty for hurting the other boy before. If it came down to it, he didn't think he would ever be able to fight the other boy again. Something in the Commander begged him to protect the boy. From the moment he had thought that Lucas was going to drown… The tears found their way back to his face. He reached up to wipe them away.

"You still can't sleep?" someone asked from across the room. It was the Magypsy, Ionia, that he had knocked out a few weeks back. "I'm about to make some tea. I'm having trouble sleeping as well. It will help you get to be."

The Commander frowned at the thought. They Magypsy might drug him again. Then again, they were going to anyway. There was no point in trying to avoid it. "That sounds very nice, thank you."

The Magypsy walked over to the other side of the side of the room. Hearing the sound of springs, he that pink haired creature had previously been sitting on the bed.. Since it was Ionia's house, it was only natural they were the one to use the bed. They had spent enough nights on the floor while the Commander was still out cold. The soft clank of cups and only metal device filled the air.

Light finally came into the room as Ionia lit a fire underneath their kettle. It didn't light up much, but he could hear an annoyed noise from the sleeping princess. Out of the group, she seemed to be the lightest sleeper and the light had slightly annoyed her.

"I hope you don't mind camomile tea. I really is the best for getting someone to sleep," the Magypsy said. The Commander made a confused expression was the comment.

"There are multiple types of tea?" he asked quietly.

The Magypsy looked a bit surprised at his question. "Of course there are. I suppose you've never had tea before. It might be a bit bitter, but I go have some milk and sugar around here somewhere, in case you have a sweet tooth. As much as I love sweet things, I think I'd rather the tea as it is."

The red head nodded. "I don't know if I will like the taste or not, but I will not need those things. I am simply grateful that you're willing to let me have some with you."

Ionia was silent for a moment. The keetle gave a small cry, signalling the water have boiled. The pink haired creature took this time to blow the fire out and pour the contents into two glasses. They places something else in the two cups. The Commander naturally assumed that the tea was ready. He reached for one of the two cups, only to have his hands swatted.

"Not yet. The tea leaves haven't let out all that flavour yet, besides, I haven't even removed the leaves. If you drink it now, you'll just be drinking hot water and leave," Ionia explained in a rather stern tone.

"Oh, I was unaware. I assumed that you were done when you poured the water." He looked down at the ground.

"My goodness, you really have never drank tea before, have you? It's alright. You just need to learn to wait." The Magypsy took a step back from the boy and the tea. "You know, Claus had that problem as well. I only met him once, but he gave off the vibe of the type of boy who always rushed ahead."

The Commander frowned. He was not happy to be compared to that boy, again. He had thought when Lucas asked for his name, he'd be allowed to be himself, but it didn't seem to be that way.

"I was unaware you knew him as well… I thought only Lucas did." He hoped this clued the Magypsy into the fact he wanted to change subjects.

"Kumatora was the only one here who didn't know him. Duster came from the same village as those two, and Boney knew him. The day I met him was the day he went missing. He was going to hunt down some creature for his mother." Ionia gave a little sigh. "But, that's a story for another time. The tea is ready."

Only the Magypsy did something, the Commander could not tell what, to the tea, they handed one of the cups to the boy. He found the liquid inside far too hot. It didn't have a very nice flavour either, but he would drink it. The boy didn't want to be seen as rude for not finishing the whole thing.

There was silence between the two for a while. The Commander assumed it would stay like that, but before he knew it, the Magypsy was speaking again. He found he was actually getting sleepy, so much so that he almost didn't notice what the pink haired creature had said.

"You know, Lucas is many things, but he is not a good liar."

"Really? I thought he sounded very convincing…" The Commander blinked back to wakefulness and looked back over to where Lucas was. The boy was the innocent and naïve type. He should not be able to lie so well.

"You need a soul to be able to tell when someone is lying, honey." The manly giggle showed itself again. "You're the only one who knew for sure that he was lying, though. There was really no choice but for Lucas to lie, and for the others to accept his lie."

The Commander furrowed his eyebrows. "Why is that?"

"If Lucas told us the truth, that you were the one that hurt him, the others would have no choice but to throw you out, kill you, or at the very least prevent you from going outside again. Lucas couldn't allow that to happen. The others couldn't call Lucas out on his lie because they knew how important you are to him," Ionia explained. Their voice was calm and caring. The Commander couldn't help but relax a little bit.

"Why am I important to him in the first place? I am not the brother he thinks I am…" He looked to the ground. "Why doesn't he realize this?"

"Claus meant a lot to him. He will never give up hope of seeing his brother again. Since you look so much like him, he'll always hope it's you. Even if you aren't, he worried about you. Lucas is a caring boy. I think he sees the good in everyone. If someone can be saved, then he will save them." The Commander felt something touch his hair. The Magypsy had patted his head. He quickly pulled away, nearly spilling his tea.

"I wish he would stop. This will just get everyone in trouble…" He heard a small sound from the Magypsy.

"Everyone? Not just you? Tell me, are you worried about all of us?"

The Commander shuffled from foot to foot, feeling the emotion known as nervousness. "I worry about Lucas. I do not know why. I worry about his friends because they are important to him."

Ionia giggled a bit. "It's only been a day and you two are already bonding. How cute. I wonder though, how much more trouble would Lucas be in if you weren't with us. If you were with the Pigmasks, you would have likely killed him. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Of course it does. If I had never been captured, I would not have felt like this. Then it would not matter." The boy insisted on this. Part of him knew it was wrong, but he could not help it.

"Do you wish that the group had killed you, then?" the Magypsie asked.

"Yes." He answered without hesitation.

"I'm sure that would have cleared up some of our problems, but not all of them. We wouldn't have to compete with you for needles. They would still need to be pulled, though." Ionia sighed. "Tell me, why do you pull needles?"

"I pull them because that was my orders." The Commander got the feeling that he was being asked this for a special reason.

"Do you know what happens after you pull them all?" Ionia's tone got a bit more serious.

"No…"

"Then why are you the only one allowed to pull them?"

This sent the Commander's mind reeling. Why was it that Lucas wasn't allowed to pull needles? If they pulled them together, it would go so much faster. Yet… Only The Commander was allowed to pull them. Did they give someone special powers? Did Master Porky want those powers? Suddenly, he remembered got his PK Love got stronger every time he pulled one. That didn't seem like a good enough reason, though.

"…I don't know."

"Then let me explain…" Ionia turned their back to him. "A long time ago, there was a powerful dragon, the Dark Dragon. The needles were meant to seal it. The Magypsies guard the needles. If the needles are pulled, the dragon will be released. The needles also let you pass your heart on to the dragon."

His heart? The Commander placed his hand over his chest. He still didn't understand why only he was allowed to pull the needles. If Master Porky wanted him to pass on his heart? Did that mean the dragon would obey his master? However, the Commander had always been told he had no heart. Did that mean the dragon would not receive anything either?

"When Lucas pulls a needle, he passes on the desire to save the world. When you do, you pass on nothing. If you were to pull all the needles, the world would end. You were going to destroy the world."

The commander sat down on the ground. He had no love for this world, but he never wanted to destroy it. He couldn't let that happen. The boy looked up to the Magypsy for a moment.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't know." His head was touched. The Magypsy had ruffled his hair.

"It's alright. I understand you were controlled. Lucas understands it too. We all do. Kumatora is a little bitter over the fact that pulling the needles caused the other Magypsies to disappear, but she's not really mad at you. She's mad at the one that controlled you. Now that you understand this, you can't go back to pulling needles, can you?" Ionia's voice was light and caring. It reminded him of someone else, someone that had cared for him. It made the boy feel safe.

"I can't." The boy bit his lip. "Thank you for telling me."

"I assumed someone had to. Everyone here is a good person, but they sometimes forget that wars are two sided things. I knew you didn't think you were doing evil." Ionia stepped away from him. "Now, do you feel any better? Are you ready to go to bed yet?"

After taking a look down at his empty tea cup, the Commander nodded. He quickly realized that in the dark, the other couldn't see what he was doing. "I think so."

"One last thing… When I first checked your PSI when you came here… There was something… Did the army do something to your head?" Ionia sounded down right worried about the other boy.

"Of course they did. That was just part of being a good Commander. Is that a bad thing?" he asked carefully.

"Yes. It really is. Sealing up your PSI for the last few days delayed the effect, but once it wears off, you will… It won't be nice, but if you're strong, it will pass. I just hope that you can handle it."

The Commander frowned. Was this going to be that bad? He didn't understand it. The way Ionia spoke was so final, he decided this meant the conversation was over. The boy placed the cup back on the table it had come from and headed back to bed. A small yawn escaped him. He really was tired now.

"Good night, Ionia…" he muttered as he crawled into the sleeping bag with Lucas. The other boy wrapped his arms around the Commander as soon as he was close enough.

The Commander didn't respond to the touch right away. Being cuddled wasn't so bad. He could accept this. He was still for a moment before he wrapped his arms around Lucas was well. He pulled the other boy close. Something about this felt nice. It was like they were supposed to be together. The Commander gave a happy sigh and let himself drift off to sleep.

* * *

_He's been stuck in bed for hours. Everyone else was having fun outside, but he couldn't. It wasn't fair. Even Lucas got to play outside. Every time they had gotten sick before, it had been both of them .That was the side effect of spending almost every waking, and sleeping for that matter, moment with your twin. When one of you was sick, so was the other. This was the first time only Claus had been ill._

"_I bet Lucas would love this…" he muttered to himself. The boy shuddered in his bed. "He'd take this as a chance to sleep in. He's so lazy…"_

_A soft laugh came from the other side of the room. His mother was in the middle of making him some of her special cold curing stew. Claus had never liked it very much, but he left the complaining up to Lucas. Lucas was the complainer, not Claus. He made insightful comments that people might confuse for complaints, but they clearly weren't._

"_Nobody likes having a cold, Claus. You act like it's his fault you're sick, but if it's anyone's fault, it's yours. At least your brother had the sense not to dive into the pond in the middle of winter." She shook her head. Though she wasn't facing him, Claus could tell she was smiling. Hinawa was almost always smiling._

"_That's only because he's a coward!" Claus huffed out loud. He laid back down in the bed. Looking at the window just made him angrier. "Besides, if it's not snowing, it's not really winter…"_

"_Now now, you know he's not a coward. He's just a little more careful than you. You've always been a little spit fire from the time you were born. If you didn't have Lucas to keep you from making bad choices, I'd worry about the fate of this village."_

_Hinawa bent over and tasted the soup. She seemed to be satisfied with this, because she began pouring some into a bowl._

"_Now, I know you aren't hungry, but you had to eat this. It will make you feel better." She placed the bowl on the bed beside him. "You can't let Lucas have all the fun, now can you?"_

_Claus frowned. As he went to take the first sip of the soup, he suddenly felt sicker than he ever had before._

* * *

The Commander woke with a start. He felt very, very sick. This was a type of sickness he'd only experienced three times before. Each time, it had been as a punishment. Until now, he had never remembered what those punishments were.

The PSI running through his boy slowly unravelled the mysteries of his blanked out memories. Everything was out of order and messed up. What had that helmet done to his head? The boy remembered the blanks now. He remembered having his helmet taken. He remembered the sickness, the emotions, everything about what had been done to his body. Most importantly, he remembered only getting the helmet back when Master Porky saw he was horribly broken.

The boy curled his legs up to his chest and began to shake. He hadn't even noticed that Lucas was no longer in the sleeping bag with him. Had the group abandoned him? He felt angry at that thought. Pushing emotions down had no use now.

There was a suddenly touch to his back. He was normally reach up to grab whatever suddenly touched him, but even moving was too much work. The touch was meant to be soft anyway.

"Are you alright?" his blond twin asked gently.

"D-do I look alright?" The Commander could hardly speak through all his shaking. He pulled at the blankets, trying to cover his own head.

"I made you some soup. It's really good for curing illness. I know it doesn't taste very good and you probably can't eat very much, but you should at least try it."

The Commander could only assume that was why he had dreamed about soup last night. Though it was difficult, he managed to roll over and look at the bowl next to him. It didn't smell very good, but it smelled familiar. Almost like the one in his dream. The dream where he had been called Claus.

"Did… Your mother teach you how to make this?" he asked in a hushed voice. Even his own sounds make his headache. Wonderful, a headache as well as this sickness.

"Well, yeah… Why? Did you remember something?" There was excitement in his voice that only made the Commander groan. People were not allowed to be happy around him while he was like this.

"I remember being sick and a brown haired woman making this soup… She looked like you." The red head reached out and grabbed Lucas' leg.

"That means she also looked like you," Lucas insisted. "D-did she call you by any names? I mean even if you aren't Claus you ca-"

"Don't. You know what I heard already… She called me Claus. But I'm not Claus. It must have been a weird dream." He tugged the blond's leg slightly. "I'm sorry I can't be your Claus…"

Lucas bent down and patted the Commander's head. It was a nice sensation, calming almost. He wished that he could have Lucas closer. The boy was warm and right now, he really needed warm things. The world was much too cold for the freezing Commander. He would never complain about it though. Lucas complained, the Commander made insightful comments people might confuse for complaints, but they really weren't.

"Just light me on fire… I'm freezing…" the Commander 'commented insightfully'.

"If you weren't so ill, I'd say we should go back to the hot springs… Ionia said that was supposed to help with your condition."

The Commander forced himself to look at Lucas. Or at least he tried, Lucas was surprisingly blurry. He couldn't read the other boy's expression like this. Still, he felt he looked a little surprised.

"How did you know I would be ill? …Was it a side effect of the medicine you gave me to stop my PSI?" he asked. Despite his best effort, anger seeped into his voice. The thought that they would do this to him, that Lucas would so this to him, made the boy feel betrayed. It wouldn't be the first time he had been drugged and was hurt because of that, but Lucas was different. Lucas was trustworthy.

"No! No!" As soon as he heard the anger, Lucas replied. "I would never do that to you! …The thing is, that mix actually delayed this until now. Ionia says that your PSI was all in disarray. It needed to fix itself, but to do that, it needs to hurt your body a little. They said you'll feel much better in a day or two though."

"A day or two will feel like forever…"the Commander groaned. He pulled the sleeping bag back up over his head. He felt Lucas pat him over the sleeping bag.

"You'll feel a lot better once you have some soup in you," the blond suggested. This only annoyed the red headed boy he was petting, though.

"If I put some soup in me, that soup will come right back out. Just leave me alone…" He felt the hand get removed from him.

"At least try it. I'll leave you alone if you do." The blond sounded sad. The Commander peeked he head out of the blankets to check the blond's face, only to realize the world was far too blurry for him to tell. "You barely ate anything yesterday, and you didn't eat the two days before that. I really worry about you. I mean, you're so thin already… I don't care if you say those pills they make you take are all you need. They aren't enough. I don't want to see you wasting away."

The Commander sighed. He pushed himself up with shaky arms. It looked like his PSI was back, as he could move the metal arm was well. Once he was in a sitting position, he reached from the bowl. It really was warm. He might be able to enjoy it if he stomach wasn't flip flopping all over the place. He also would have lifted the bowl to his lips if his hands weren't so shaky.

"I'll spill it…" he muttered softly. His thought quickly went to asking Lucas to feed him, but that would be too embarrassing. He was a soldier and soldiers didn't get spoon fed by the enemy.

It seemed that Lucas didn't need to be asked, though. He was already grabbing the bowl and getting Claus a spoon full of the nasty smelling soup. The other boy frowned, but agreed to go along with it. He couldn't help but wonder how the other boy knew he was thinking of this?

"I don't like to do it often, but you can read people's mind with PSI." The Commander would have jumped if he had that much strength left in his body. He didn't like the fact that the other boy was reading his mind. Lucas seemed to know this and looked bashful. "I'm sorry. You were just sick and I wanted to know how to best look after you. I won't do it again. I promise."

"…It's fine. I am not used to people doing that. I was never good at looking into people's minds. It was too much work. I just don't like the feeling of someone else in my head. You can do it again, if it helps you, but I just don't like it." The Commander didn't meet the blond boy's gaze.

"Alright. Open up."

Lucas fed the Commander as much of the soup as the red head could handle. It was only a few spoonfuls before he got too tired of sitting up and laid back down. The blond boy left him alone after that point. Though he said he wouldn't do any more mind reading, the Commander bet the boy had read his mind to tell whether he needed to be alone or not. He had. The headache that had been brewing in his before had become something nasty.

Every part of him hurt. His head, his body, even his non-existent heart. The boy wished he could go back to sleep. The Commander rarely wanted to sleep, but right now he did. They said he had a few days of this left. He couldn't even begin to imagine it. All that he could do was stare off into space and hope that this would all be over soon.

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**Thank you for reading their slightly late chapter.**


	6. Timid Twin

**I took a little longer than I wanted, but here I am, with another chapter. The Commander was hard to write when he was sick, so I decided to give someone else a shot. So, this one is going to be from Lucas' point of view.**

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Lucas was tired. If the Commander couldn't sleep, neither could he. It was partially to do with his sleeping bag being used, but that wasn't the main reason. The Commander had shook and squirmed worse than the boy had ever seen anyone do before. It made him feel bad. When this Claus lookalike first became ill, he assumed it was just PSI Fever. He was used to that. It was terrible, but he was used to that. Normally PSI Fever cleared up in a few hours, and this just didn't.

Ionia seemed to know what this was. They never once called it PSI Fever, despite giving out useful advice, like making him soup or to keep him warm. When Lucas had finally gotten up the courage to ask exactly what the red head was ailing from, the Magypsy kept deflecting the question. It made the blond boy uncomfortable, though not as uncomfortable as the Commander was making him.

Sometimes he would be nice and polite, others he would snap and ask to be left alone. That wasn't the worst of it though. The worst time was the time that the other boy tried to sneak out.

* * *

It was late at night. Ionia had allowed Lucas to borrow one of their blankets to sleep on, as there was no way he was going to get any rest with the Commander in the sleeping bag with him. All that shaking and squirming had gotten him moved as far from the others as possible. Of course, this had been suggested by Kumatora. She had never met Claus. She just didn't understand, and as such never treated the boy with care.

Despite the fact he was perfectly comfortable, the blond PSI user couldn't get a wink of rest. His head was full of possibilities. Thoughts about needles and his brother. He thought of the Commander too. What if he wasn't Claus? What if he was made in a lab, like he had said, using Claus' blood? If that was true, that would mean Claus was… No! He wouldn't even consider that.

The blond boy rolled over and stared at his sleeping friends rather than the door. His friends had always helped him sleep easier, Boney more than anyone. There were nights like this all the time, though. Nights where he just couldn't sleep for the life of himself.

He heard movement from across the room and noticed the Commander get up. The boy was wobbly, likely from his fever, and had to rest against the wall for a few seconds before stumbling his way across the room. The strange thing was that he was being extremely quiet, like he was afraid of waking any of them up. Lucas assumed that the boy must be going to either throw up again or 'answer the call of nature' as he preferred to put it. He wouldn't be surprised. The Commander hadn't used the washroom once since he got there. He must had really had to go.

What did end up surprising him was the fact the boy was heading for the front door. If he needed to pee, he would have headed to for the back, where the outhouse door was. The vomit bucket was near there too. It hit Lucas like a brick that the other boy was trying to escape again. The blond narrowed his eyes. In that instant, he switched mind sets.

Lucas was a sweet boy, but sweet boys couldn't stop armies or face tragedies. Sometimes he had to just shelter himself with cold logic. It felt like the only way to stop him from breaking under the weight of his responsibilities. Cold logic told him that he has to wait. If everyone heard them struggle, it would be no good. The boy waited a few second before he heard the door close to get up himself.

He grabbed his stick from besides his bag and headed outside. The Commander couldn't make it far in his condition. The boy could probably get him back before they ran into any problems. With his PSI back, the other boy could be a little dangerous, though.

When Lucas looked out the door, he realized that he couldn't see the red head. For a moment, he panicked. Had the other boy flown away? At one point, the Commander had mentioned his wings didn't work without his helmet. Had that been a lie as well? The boy thought they were on their way to becoming friends and this betrayal cut deeply.

It didn't take him long to realized what happened. When he looked over the edge, he saw the other boy crumpled up on the ground. He must have fallen. Lucas' eyes widened in panic.

"Claus!" He couldn't help but yell. The boy jumped down himself. It was a rather large far and his legs hurt, but that wouldn't delay him. He ran over to the other's side. The Commander looked like he was still conscious.

"I need it…" the other boy was whispering. Lucas had to lean in close to hear him, which wasn't much of a problem, as he was inspecting him for obvious wounds. They were impossible to see in the dark, but that didn't register to Lucas.

"Claus… What do you need? Do you need me to heal you?" Lucas tried his best healer voice, but it kept cracking with worry.

"My… My helmet… I need my helmet."

He was trying to run away. Lucas couldn't let his only hope of having his brother back run away from him. Anger boiled up in the boy. "What, so you can run away from us? So you can go back to destroying the world?!"

The former Masked Man only let out a small whine at that accusation. As soon as he remembered how badly hurt Claus was, Lucas let his anger fade. He reached under the other boy and flipped him onto his back. Up until now, the other boy had been lying face down in the dirt. From what the blond could see, the other boy was okay. Oh, he was in pain, but not horrible injured.

"It hurts too much…" the Commander complained. Lucas felt bad for ever being mad at the other boy. Maybe he was just going to the Hot Springs.

"Why don't I take you to the Hot Springs so you'll feel better?" the blond suggested. The other had broken into horrible shudders, and as such, could no longer answer. Lucas decided this was for the best.

The blond picked up his twin and headed down the mountain. When they were younger, Claus would carry him around all the time, but the blond had never been strong enough to carry his brother back. How times had changed. Though the Commander was heavy, heavier than he should be, Lucas had no problem carrying him to the hot spring. Saving the world sure did help someone gain muscle mass.

He didn't bother to ask the other boy to strip this time. They both went into the Hot Springs fully clothed. They would dry off soon enough. Despite the heat, the Commander couldn't help shaking. It seemed that his strange ailment had this in common with PSI Fever. Hot Springs couldn't fix them.

"This… Wasn't what I needed…" the Commander managed to get out between shudders.

"Well, Ionia says that it will help you feel better, so…" the blond insisted. This only seemed to make the other boy upset. The Commander looked away from him.

"It's only a temporary fix, though…" The red head sunk under the water as much as he could without covering his mouth. "If I had my helmet, I wouldn't even be sick…"

"Your helmet?" the younger boy asked. He had never thought such a thing could be a cure for an illness.

"My helmet keeps me safe, it helps me do things my body can't, and it makes me feel good. When I don't have it, I get sick and I start feeling things." The other boy closed his eyes in exhaustion. "I don't like this feeling. I don't like feelings. They hurt too much."

"They hurt?" Lucas looked over the other boy with confusion. Perhaps the other boy just wasn't built for feelings.

"It makes me feel broken. I can't stop feeling, but I only feel bit and pieces. It's like doing something part way, rather than the whole way. It feels incomplete, so I feel incomplete. If I'm incomplete, I'm broken. If I'm broken, I need to be fixed. I don't want to be fixed again." The Commander tucked his head into his knees, despite the fact it put his face under water. He started to shudder again. It took Lucas a moment, via PSI, to realize that he was shaking in fear rather than from his illness. At the very least, he was shaking from both.

The blond boy placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to be compassionate, but the other boy pulled away as quickly as he could. Lucas frowned to him.

"You aren't broken, you're just healing… Don't…" He wasn't sure what to say anymore. Lucas took a moment to think. "You won't have to go in for repairs again. You can stay with us. You can stay with me. I promise you that you won't be hurt."

The Commander placed his hands on head. "But you're hurting me right now! You took my helmet, and now it hurts! It hurts, everything hurts…"

The angry outburst caused Lucas to flinch back, but the Commander seemed to lose his anger quite quickly. He was bad to being pathetic a moment later. The younger boy moved closer to him again.

"It'll be better soon… I promise…" Lucas muttered. Despite his earlier promise, he looked into the other boy's head. He tried to find the source of his pain. All he found was the helmet, and the Commander said that was the cure. He thought for a moment.

"Cl-Commander… Is your helmet what's making you sick?" he asked in a hushed voice. The other boy tensed.

"I get sick when I don't have it… I need it Lucas. If I have it, I don't need to hurt, or feel… Please…" He probably didn't realize how broken he sounded, but to Lucas, it seemed like the other boy had completely broken down.

"I know you want it, but you'll just get sick again. You don't need it, Claus…" He didn't even bother to try to correct his mistake this time.

"I do! I do need it!" the Commander pushed himself out of the water, only to fall back in.

"No, you don't." Lucas got out of the water himself. He reached down to help out the other boy as well. Despite how weak he was, the Commander let the other boy help him up. "I don't care if you aren't Claus. Maybe you have his blood, maybe I'm seeing things, but if you look like Claus, you're strong. You proved that in battle too. You are incredibly strong. I won't let you get beaten by a piece of head gear and a fever."

* * *

After he had carried the Commander back to the house, Lucas pretended like the whole thing hadn't happened. He could almost pretend it was a dream, if he had gotten some sleep. Over the next day, he tried to bring it up to the Commander a few times. The other boy didn't seem to remember, but that could be attributed to his high fever.

The blond boy stayed by the red head's side as long as he could. He would leave sometimes to talk with the other, eat, and do other necessary things. He would have stayed by the other boy's side forever if needed. The fever didn't begin to go down for two more days.

The other had started to talk about just leaving the red head there and going to pull the needle. Lucas argued against this, but agreed if the other didn't feel better in another two days, he would go without him. The needles needed to be pulled, whether someone else was pulling them or not. Just understood this was well as anyone. As much as he worried about the boy who looked like his brother, his duty was more important than that.

Lucas was so happy to see the other boy begin to get better, but the celebration couldn't last forever. With his PSI working again, they would have to be more careful with him. Kumatora suggested Ionia create another batch of the PSI stopping tea, but they Magypsy was out of ingredients. They were at an impasse. Still, the hope of the Commander remembering he was Claus held within Lucas. Until the Commander was able to talk, they couldn't know for sure if he thought he was Claus or not.

* * *

"We can't decide now," Lucas insisted. "He just got to sleep. We have at least a few more hours before he wakes up."

"That's what you say, but what if you're wrong? What if he's just faking it?" Kumatora retorted. "I know that you think he's your brother, but damn it Lucas, he tried to kill us. He'll do it again. What if he attacks when we're distracted? What if he hurts you? What if he hurts Ionia and goes after the needle?"

"He's not like that anymore! I promise!" Lucas knew he couldn't be sure on that one, but refused to give up on anyone that could be Claus.

"That's not good enough!" his pink haired friend yelled back.

The princess called fire into her hands. She was willing to fight if it meant saving the world from the Masked Man. The girl faltered for a second when she saw the hurt look on her blond companion's face. Lucas had put himself between her and the Commander, clearly ready to take a blow for the boy. Boney found a spot by Lucas, teeth bared. It looked like it was going to end in a fight before Duster pushed between the two sides.

"Enough!" the crippled man yelled. He didn't raise his voice often, so it shocked the others into silence for the time being. "Kumatora, you can't just attack him because you think he might go back to being evil. Give the boy a chance to prove what he is first."

"(That's right!)" Boney barked. Lucas was nodding beside the dog.

"You two aren't any better. You're defending him without consideration for the rest of us. The world need you, Lucas. You can't let your feelings stop you." Duster let out a sigh. He really hated yelling at his companion. "We should let the Masked Man sleep for a while, but let's keep our guard up. We can't be sure which way he'll go."

The tall man limped off to where Ionia was. He had been helping the Magypsy put together some sandwiches, and if they were as bad at cooking as the other pink haired person in the party, then his help would be needed. Though he didn't intend for anyone to hear, Lucas heard him mutter "Children…".

The blond boy sat down and gave a sigh of relief. It seemed he wasn't the only one that lost all of their strength suddenly. Kumatora gave him a soft look, one of the few times she ever had.

"I'm sorry, Luc… I just don't want him hurting anyone. I don't want you to get hurt either… Make sure he doesn't, got it?" With that said, the girl turned around and headed out of the seashell shaped house. That wasn't the last they heard of her, though.

"Oh shit!"

A large beam cut through the seashell house like it was made of paper. It had come straight through the door. Everyone jumped into their fighting positions. Except for Kumatora, who had just gone outside…

"Kumatora!" Duster yelled and ran out the hole to see if the young princess was alright. Lucas and Boney followed quickly behind him.

"Ionia! Stay here and look after Claus!" Lucas yelled back to the Magypsy. If they couldn't be seen, the house was still the safest place for the two non-combatants.

Once he was outside, Lucas was relieved to discover his pink haired friend was alright. She had jumped down from the ledge the moment she saw that someone was about to attack. Lucas did the same, landing carefully on the ground and readying himself for battle. He let the familiar cold logic take over his brain.

"'You took your time coming out. I've been waiting all day for you to come out. Nwhehehe!' is what Fassad says." The robotic voice of Fassad's interpreter sounded. As expected, the female robot was floating next to her horn nosed master.

"Fassad! Didn't we stomp you into the ground enough times already?" Kumatora yelled, pulling herself to her feet.

"'I am new, reborn. You won't defeat me again. Too bad I'm not here to fight. I'm just here to deliver a warning and to try out our scientists' newest creation.'" The robot continued to repeat what her master had honked out. The man proceeded to gesture to a giant cage with a white sheet over it. There was a large smoking hole in the sheet, but it was still too dark to see inside.

"'King P isn't too happy about you borrowing one of his toys without asking. He says you have three days to return it or else things are going to get messy. Well, you have three options really. You can come fight him in New Pork City, return his toy, or the village of Tazmily and all the people we relocated from there will get blow to the moon. Nwehehehehehe!' That is one Nwe and five hes." The interpreter moved back.

Fassad pulled the cover from over the cage. He honked again, and once again it was translated. "He goes on to say 'For now, I'll leave this special gift behind for you. I think one of your will be very happy with it.'"

The cage fell apart at the man and his robot flew away from the scene. The creature in the cage was familiar to all of them, but only held a special meaning to Lucas and Boney. Lucas felt himself holding his breathe. This wouldn't be like last time. He wouldn't lose anyone else important to him. Not to a beast like this.

Only one eye remained of what the creature once was. It's cold green skin had been replaced with metal and wires. It gave an aura of power. It was much stronger than the one that had killed his mother all those years ago.

In front of the group stood an Almost Mecha-Dragon.

Boney let out a fearsome growl and rushed the beast. Before it come so much as move out of the cage, the dog was on it. He leapt onto the beast's tail and ran up its spine. Having identified the eye as the weak point, it struck there first. There was a vicious bite, and its organic eye was no more.

The beast thrashed about, throwing Boney off. It made an attempt to stomp the dog, only to be met with the foot of Duster. The crippled thief kicked the beast straight in the chest. While he couldn't do too much damage to the beast, the creature would hurt itself. It lurked over and landed on its tail. The tail bent in a direction it wasn't meant to, nearly snapping it off. The exposed wires sparked.

"PK Lightning!" Kumatora called. A bright flash filled the area and the beast began to spark even more. That wasn't nearly enough to stop it, though. The fight had just barely began.

The creature leaned forward and gave a fearsome roar. The party was shaken by the sounded, but it didn't stop them. Well, except one of them. From the time the fight had started, Lucas found he couldn't move. He stared at the Drago, images of his mother passing through his mind. The boy wanted to destroy it, but his body wouldn't let him move. Instead it screamed at him to run.

"_Claus! Lucas! Run!" screamed a woman. The two looked back at him to see she had climbed onto the back of the beast. Their gentle mother wasn't a warrior, but she was doing all she could to stop the creature. She rammed a broken stick into the creature's shoulder, but it simply broke without leaving a scratch. The creature roared and she was flung off._

_Hinawa just seemed to get smaller and smaller. It didn't hit Lucas until he had run into Claus' back that he had been running away from the beast. He let out a little gasp. There was a river right in front of the two of them. It looked far too turbulent to swim across._

"_We have to go around!" Claus yelled. He made the mistake of looking back, and gasped at was he was. Having heard his gasp, Lucas looked back as well._

_Their mother hung between the creature's jaws, nearly split in half. The monster seemed to notice them as it dropped the woman onto the ground and started to head towards them._

"_Lucas, swim!" With that Lucas was pulled into the river._

"Lucas, get down!" The scream pulled him out of his memories. He wasn't sure which of his friends it had been, but it came just in time. The boy leapt forward, sliding across the ground and just barely dodging an attack from the creature's laser breathe.

It was then that he realized this was a mistake. Everyone else had jumped back. He had leapt forward. The boy had landed less than three feet from the monster. His eyes widened in horror. The creature simply had to step down to kill him. As strong as he was, he couldn't handle that much weight on him at once.

"Lucas!" He heard the screams of his companions. Boney was running for him, planning to pull him back. Duster had leapt forward to kick the beast back and away from Lucas. Kumatora had cast Paralyse to freeze the monster in place. Lucas, himself, had already thrown up a shield. None of those things were what stopped the beast, though.

A beam of yellow energy, faster than either Duster or Boney, soared through the air, striking the beast and throwing it onto the ground. With the beam of energy came a fearsome growl.

"Stay the hell away from my brother!"

Standing in the doorway was an extremely anger Claus.

* * *

**Alright, this section is going to be a little longer than normal today. I hope you guys didn't mind me writing another fight scene. I wish I was better at them, but what can I say. It was required for the plot.**

**Another thing I wanted to talk about is the helmet. I mentioned a few chapters ago my headcanon for it, so how it is in this fic, was inspire by masks worn by the Forgeries in Deadman Wonderland. Like those masks, it had a mind control effect. It also wipes Claus's memory and dulls his emotions. Finally, like the masks, it is addicting to wear. Having it destroyed, removed, or taken away causes the body to go into withdrawal, almost like a drug, hence why Claus felt he needed it so badly. It makes a perfect control unit, as the person being mind controlled will actively try to be re-mind controlled due to their addiction. I just loved the idea so much that I had to write it.**

**I wasn't very good at portraying it though. I should have gotten more experience before trying something like that. Please forgive your hasty author. **


	7. Overshadowed Twin

**I discovered one of the people who reviews this fic's tumblr today. It was rather weird. I know because they post their fics on both sites.**

**Additionally, the alternative names for this chapter are Saying Something Doesn't Mean You Believe It and Kumatora gets the Short Straw.**

* * *

_The Commander was sinking, sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean in his mind. All these memories emotion and thoughts were getting to him. Some of them contradicted. How could he had been born in a lab, but have always lived with his family? There were no answers. It was like he was tangled up thread. Unless someone came along and helped him untangle, he would never know the truth about himself._

_"Who am I?" he asked himself as he fell. He really didn't expect an answer, so the fact he got one came as a massive shock._

_"You're Claus." The voice was soft and feminine. More than anything, it was so painfully familiar. It appeared in most of his memories. Without thinking, he called out to it._

_"Mom?"_

_A warm laugh filled the air. He felt like the knots in his stomach had come undone. The boy opened his eyes and saw the brown haired woman sitting beside him. He was no longer sinking._

_"That's right. I'm so glad I could finally get through to you, Claus. I missed you so much."_

_The boy reached out and pulled her into a hug. The woman gave a surprised sound, but she didn't push him away. Instead, she pulled the boy even closer to her. She planted a quick kiss onto the top of his head._

_"I missed you too, Mom. When you died, I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry I left Lucas all alone, I'm sorry I got into this mess, but believe me, I still love you!"_

_Hinawa gently stroked her son's messy hair. This filled the boy with a happy and safe sensation, a feeling he had been lacking for the last three years. Tears built up in his eyes and he cried against his mother's chest._

_"I'm so sorry, Mom. I never meant-"_

_She placed her hand on his lips gently. He looked up to her face. She was giving him a soft expression. Just that look alone told him that she wasn't mad at him. Rather, it said that she was proud of him._

_"You don't have to be sorry, you never meant for this to happen. Still, it did happen, and that means that you'll have to fix all the things that were caused by it. More importantly, you have to find your place in this world again. I know it will be hard, but you have your brother and father. You'll be fine Claus…"_

_When he went to answer, he heard the loud sound of an explosion. This only caused him to grip his mother even tighter. However, when his squeezed her, she was just gone. The boy passed through his mother's ghostly figure and tumbled head first back into the ocean in his mind._

* * *

Claus jumped up in the sleeping bag. There was rubble everywhere. A large chunk of the seashell house had been destroyed. He tried to get to his feet, but was still too tangled in the sleeping bag to do so at the moment. After a bit of squirming, the boy got himself free. The only other person still in the room was Ionia. The Magypsy stayed in the corner by him.

"What happened?" the red headed boy asked, looking around frantically. His eyes were often drawn to the destroyed part of the house, terrified he'd see a scrap of a familiar striped shirt among it.

"Someone asked my poor house. All the other went out to fight it. I do hope they are okay." Despite Ionia's calming tone, Claus became frantic. Lucas was fighting. Though they would fight small creatures and other children when they were young, Lucas had never been much of a warrior. The older boy was full of fear for his brother.

When he attempted to run outside, he found someone gripping his wrist. Ionia was much heavier than they looked. He could try to drag them along, but there was no escaping a grip like that. It jolted him to a stop. The pink haired creature seemed to be scolding him for even considering running of into battle.

"You're not ready to fight yet. I know you want to protect Lucas, trust me, we all do, but you are still, too weak from the fever. He's stronger than you think. He can protect himself." The firm words caused him to stop for a moment. Would Lucas really be okay without his big brother to protect him? He thought to all the traps he had set up for the other boy. The others were stronger than he thought.

"They'll be okay…" he repeated softly. If he repeated it enough times, he could pretend that he believed it.

His blood turned to ice when he heard a familiar and yet horrible sound. The cry of a Drago echoed through the air. Lucas and a Drago. Lucas getting eaten by a Drago. He couldn't lose anyone else to a beast like that. More than anything, he couldn't lose Lucas.

The boy pulled free of the Magypsy's grip, rushing off towards the sound. He could only heard the blood in his ears at this point. The boy ran outside and froze at what he saw. The creature was about to attack his little brother. It was charging his laser breathe, an attack that could spell the end for anyone that got in it's way.

"Lucas, get down!" he yelled to his brother. The other boy seemed to be frozen in place. Claus was about to jump down to protect the blond when he saw his brother leap forward. He was out of the way, but in just as much danger.

"Lucas!" Everyone yelled this together. Everyone prepared to attack, but Claus was fastest. His arm was in canon mode almost instantly. He brought it forward and shoved as much PSI as he could into the shot. He was told not to overdo what he put into this, as too must would make his dizzy. Like right now. The spinning in his head only angered him more. If his blood could boil, it would have burned through his skin.

"Stay the hell away from my brother!" he yelled. The former Commander jumped down the cliff and rushed the Drago. It didn't take him long to realize that his sword was missing. That hardly matter. He had his fists and his canon.

The beast had gotten up as he started charging. He realized now that he wasn't fighting along. The limping man, Duster had already landed a powerful kick under the creature's chin. The creature wobbled but didn't give up. It was about to bite at the man when it's body froze, the effect of a spell the pink haired princess had cast on it.

Claus neared it while the creature was frozen in place. He felt a presence at his side when he realized that Boney was there as well. The two of them slammed into the beast at the same time. Boney was surprisingly strong for a dog, but Claus was more powerful. Though he had a young body, he possessed super strength in the form of the machinery that found its way into all his limbs. He wasn't done yet, though. The boy brought his other arm forward and shot a blast from his canon arm directly into the creature.

The Drago was badly dented in the front, but not finished. It had charged up another blast of its laser breathe and brought it down on the group. Before it could hit anyone, a shield was thrown up, thanks to Lucas. The attack nearly burst through, but the shield was extremely strong. Claus looked to his brother, noticing the strain it took to keep up such a powerful shield. He understood now. Lucas really was strong.

The two brothers's met eyes for a moment and reached an agreement. Sometimes, there wasn't any need for talk between the twins. The rest of the group went back to their standard attacks. Duster tried to staple the creature down, Boney slammed it, and Kumatora launched an impressive PK Fire Beta at the creature. It as wearing down, but a strong finishing move was need.

The two boy's cast their attack at the same time. Cyan light collected in their hands and came rushing towards the creature, crashing into it from all side.

"PK Love Beta!"

That was it for the beast. It's metal body crunched inward. Its remaining eye lost its light. The whole thing fell to the ground, pieces coming loose as it did. Claus felt satisfied with its death. It wasn't the one that killed his mother, but anything that tried to hurt his brother deserved to be crushed. Including himself. With that though, he flinched away from his brother.

Lucas had turned to stare at him with wide blue eyes. He looked like he was about to cry. Had he done something wrong? The smile on the blond's lips told him otherwise.

"Your brother… You call me your brother. That means… You remember me, Claus?" Lucas asked in a hushed voice.

Claus hadn't meant to answer, but he was already talking by the time he realized. "Who could forget a crybaby like you?"

Lucas rushed him and pulled him into a hug. It was a little too tight, as it hurt him a bit. Lucas had gotten incredibly strong since they had been separated. The older twin gently wrapped his arms around Lucas, careful not to hurt him.

"I missed you, Claus…" Lucas said. To Claus' surprise, the other boy wasn't crying. He was glad. Claus didn't deserve his twin's tears.

"I missed you too." He released his brother and gave him a little pat on his head. He hardly felt like the big brother anymore. Lucas was the strong one now. That didn't mean he wouldn't do anything in his power to protect the other boy though.

"I really hate to interrupt your reunion, sweeties, but there is a large hole in my house." Ionia's voice came from in front of the seashell shaped house. Everyone turned to face them. Until this point, nobody had realized that they had even come outside. Most of them had been rather distracted, though.

"Sorry about that. I didn't have time to stop the bastard before he tried to fry me. I just had to jump and hope you guys would be okay." Kumatora rubbed the back of her neck bashfully. He wouldn't have picked up on it when he was the Commander, but the girl also looked guilty. She must have been scared what would have happened if someone had been in the line of the blast.

"It's alright. It's just a house, and I won't be using it much longer." Claus felt a stab of guilt remembering he had killed some of Ionia's fellow Magypsies and it was his actions that would lead to the pink haired humanoid's death. "I'm glad nobody was hurt. The more serious concern is that they now know where we were staying."

"They knew all along," Claus commented. Everyone turned to look to him in surprise. "That's how I could sneak up on you the first time we met. Sorry about that, by the way. Locria told us when they came to join our army."

"Not your army anymore."

"Locria?!"

Lucas and Ionia spoke at the same time. It made Claus want to laugh. It really showed the difference between their priorities. The boy did end up smiling. With a quick nod, he went on.

"Locria, or as they are known by most of the soldiers, Fassad, joined the Pig Mask's shortly before I did. They were the one that tipped us off to where most of the needles were located and where the Magypsies lived." He didn't realize how cold and dead his tone went. He hadn't learned to connect himself as a human with himself as soldier just yet. Luckily nobody noticed.

The group all looked rather a taken back. They had thought themselves safe here, though Claus had been there before. It was a horrible shock to know they had been in danger the whole time. At least, that was what Claus had guessed.

"Seriously? Fassad was a Magypsy?" Kumatora asked, proving the red headed boy wrong. "Great, now the bastard really can't die. I just thought he was tenacious."

"Locria… I never thought the dear would go to such lengths to stand out. I feel a little bad. When we were younger, well we… No, never mind." Ionia looked down right guilty over the whole situation. They had wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words. Claus wondered what they had done. "We won't be able to stay here much longer. We can use it as a temporary shelter tonight, but after that point, we'll have to move onto a different location."

Lucas looked to the Magypsy, getting what they had been hinting at. "You're saying we should continue on our quest to pull the needles tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry for rushing you, but with your brother no longer ill." The Magypsy spoke in a regretful tone. Claus wondered if they felt regret over the fact they were going to die, or the fact that they forced his weight onto Lucas' shoulders.

His brother didn't seem to mind though. The blond boy just shook his head. "It's alright. I know. Fassad, Locria, gave us a three day deadline to find the needle or something bad would happen…"

"Bad how?" Claus asked. His brother didn't meet his eyes. The boy's stomach dropped. Were they going to hurt their family? Their father was powerful, but easily overwhelmed by a large group. Their grandfather, if he was even still alive, was in a much more dangerous situation due to the fact he couldn't fight on his own.

"He's going to blow up the village and everyone that came from there."

Claus froze at his brother's words. He dropped onto the ground. He had memories of that place. Of playing with the other kids, sneaking into the bakery with Fuel because Lucas wouldn't. He remembered the kind adults and the animals there. The boy could never allow such a place to be destroyed. Tears gathered in the former Commander's eyes as he thought of all of this. He was blissfully unaware of what had happened during the years he was away. He was a soldier, not a diplomat. He didn't worry about little villages like that. He was the Commander, he was the strong one. As he was right now, though, he was helpless to stop it. His soldiers would no longer listen to him and he couldn't fly there anymore.

"Don't worry Claus, we'll make sure to stop them. Nobody it going to hurt the villagers. I promise." Lucas put a reassuring hand on his twin's shoulder. "Me and Claus can have the day to hang out before we leave right?"

Claus looked at his younger brother with slight confusion. "Why would you need that? I'm going with you, aren't I?"

There was a little murmur among the group. It seemed like something had been decided on while he was sleeping. The way they were talking… The realization hit the boy like a sack of bricks. They weren't planning to take him with them. They were just going to leave him behind. Why, because he was too weak? Because they were afraid he'd turn on them? The red haired boy was furious at the thought of this.

"Am I not good enough, is that why I'm not allowed to come?" he yelled.

Lucas flinched back and shook his head rapidly. "Claus, no! I promise that it isn't like that! We just can't bring you because the Pig Masks want you back so badly. If you bring you, we risk letting them capture you again! I promise this isn't about how strong you are. You're amazingly strong. I just can't let them take you back."

"…Idiot, if they want to find me, they'll find me. If you don't want me with you, just say it." Claus looked away from his brother in anger. He knew he really shouldn't be going. He was still slow from his sickness. He would slow them down but nobody was allowed to say that except for him.

"I'm sorry Claus… We'll make sure you're somewhere safe. Nobody will find you. I promise." Lucas leaned down and hugged his older brother. It was times like this that made him wonder if Lucas was really the younger of the two.

Claus had always been more confident, more courageous, and stronger. Lucas was smarter, wiser, and kinder. As a child, it made him seem coddled, but there were always times where he showed a terrifying amount of wisdom. He didn't feel like a child at all. Claus always pushed himself to stand out more because of those moments. He was afraid of being overshadowed by his younger brother. Lucas would always be special but Claus was just another brave, hyperactive child. He feared his brother's shadow.

"I'll forgive you, Lucas. However, I need one thing in return." Claus tried return to his playful persona. He had an evil look in his eyes. As expected, Lucas fell into his trap.

"Anything." Silly boy. Claus broke into an evil grin. He saw his brother's face fall as he realized the trap he had fallen into.

"An omelette."

"What?"

"You need to make me an omelette, Lucas. You also owe me your next omelette too." Claus looked at the horrified look on his brother's face.

"That's no far Claus! You can't have mine plus your own! That's like cheating!" the younger twin yelled back to Claus.

"Fine, then I won't forgive you." Claus looked away from his brother pettily.

"Damn it! Fine, you can have my omelette." Lucas pouted. He couldn't remain mad for long, though. "…I'm just happy to have you back."

"I'm happy to be back." Claus pushed himself to his feet. As the touching moment was over, one of Lucas' friends decided they could finally speak up.

"Really? Omelettes again? I'm going to turn into an omelette at this rate!" Kumatora yelled, raising her arms up into the air.

Claus huffed at this comment. "If you've ever had an omelette cooked by Lucas, you'd understand. It's like a taste of heaven. It's like pure, fluffy flavour fell from the clouds and found itself on my tongue. How can you say that you don't want that every night of your life?"

"Simple." Kumatora placed her hands on her hips. "I get that Luc is great at cooking, but we have omelettes almost all of the time. I want something else. What about meat? I'll never get any stronger without protein."

"Eggs count as protein, dipshit!" Claus yelled back. The boy crossed his arms.

"No way. Protein is meat and stuff," the pink haired girl argued right back. "Eggs are-"

"What are eggs supposed to turn into?" the red headed boy asked right back. "They are protein, so you've been having plenty of that. You don't get to complain about not having protein. It's got your protein, your dairy, and if you put stuff in them, they'd got vegies too. It's the perfect meal."

"Still doesn't mean I'm not fed up with omelettes. Literally." Kumatora stomped. It was as this point they were interrupted, by the sound of Lucas laughing.

"I knew it," he laughed out. "I just knew you two would be on each other's nerves. Sorry Kuma, but its gonna be omelettes today. I promise something else tomorrow, though. Duster is better with meats anyway."

Kumatora gave a little sigh and headed back towards the sea shell shaped house. "Whatever. It's almost dinner, so you two better get working on something right away. I won't be happy if you make me wait."

Claus blinked in surprise. The boy had never actually cooked before. It wasn't like his mother didn't offer lessons, but Claus wanted to be different from Lucas. It was one of the ways the two boys could be told apart. When they were younger, they had almost all of the same interests, but that changed over time. Claus had only watched his brother and mother cook once. They let him have some input, but dinner ended up being much too spicy. Claus liked it, but nobody else seemed to.

As Lucas started on the omelettes, Claus could only watch. He'd need to learn how to cook someday, but that day wasn't today. It didn't look that hard, but then again, Lucas knew what he was doing. Claus looked over the spices they had in their bag.

"You're not making it spicy again," Lucas called back to him without even looking. The older twin gave a little streak of cuss words.

"Come on Luc, it would be great. Besides, if you're cooking it, it'll be good either way." Claus had long since learned that the way to get what you wanted was flattery. It worked with his mother, it worked with Lucas, and it worked with Master Porky.

At the thought of that last name, Claus frowned. He didn't like thinking about that man and all the horrible things he did. Some were so terrible that I made the boy tense just thinking of thinking of them. His brother seemed to notice. Without looking, Lucas made a concerned sound.

"Claus, you alright? Did you inhale some pepper?" he asked. His tone wasn't overly concerned, but Claus could tell he was more worried than he let off.

"It's just… I was thinking about my time in the Pig Masks. It wasn't very fun." The red head tried to make it clear that the he didn't want to talk about that part of his life. Lucas seemed to understand. His brother solemnly nodded and an awkward silence fell over them. The older brother thought for a moment before finding something his brother would find interesting.

"Wanna hear something funny?" he asked in a rather hushed voice.

"Oh, what?" Lucas asked absentmindedly while he flipped over one of the omelettes.

"When I was the Commander, something really weird happened. I was always respected by the soldiers, but there was one that always respected me a bit too much… He kept giving me gifts and saying that they were just friendly… I think he had a crush on me. He was like six years older than me. He was young for a soldier, but I'm way too young for him. Besides, I had no soul."

Lucas dropped the omelette and gave a loud laugh when Claus finished talking. He kept laughing until there were tears in his eyes. He wiped those away and smiled. The smile faded as he let out a loud gasp.

"Oh my gods! I think I met that guy! It was back when I was dressed up like you. He gave me a gift and then got all flustered. I was so confused. You mean that guy was doing that all the time?" the blond asked in a rather shocked voice. He couldn't help it, though. Laughter just kept finding its way back into his voice.

"Wait, you weren't even wearing a helmet! Oh no! Now he thinks that I have your ugly face," Claus joked playfully. Lucas gave him a little hip check, pushing the other boy away.

"We're twins. We have the same face idiot!" Lucas yelled. Despite that, he was still happy. They both were. It was a happy reunion of a broken family.

Boney, who had been resting by their feet for a while gave a soft whine. This got the twin's attention. It was only then that they noticed the burning omelettes.

"Oh crap!"

Claus would later insist that the burnt omelette got to Kumatora. She wouldn't enjoy them anyway.

* * *

Later that night, Claus found himself stuffed back into a sleeping bag with his twin. At least when he was asleep, Lucas was the same naïve and innocent boy he once knew. The scars that covered him didn't show in the dark. Lucas was still sweet and delicate. He was not built for this struggle. Even though all of his friends were strong, Claus didn't trust them to care for his brother properly. He was not going to be left behind so easily. Not when Lucas was in so much danger.

* * *

**Thank you for reading yet another chapter. I had fun with Claus' side of his relationship to Lucas. I've always seen Lucas as kind of a hero type of person. He was always kind, but he wasn't brave. That bravery came from a long path of hardships. I feel, even if Claus didn't disappear, Lucas would always have been the hero.**


	8. Weakness

**Boy was this chapter harder to write than the others. I have no time for fluff anymore. All I can do is adventures. I even had to take a break to write something up. Adventures are hard. At least I can continue one with the plot, though.**

**The alternate title for this chapter is The Weight of A Name.**

* * *

The group lead Claus to a cave deeper up the mountain. Apparently, it had been a favourite hiding place of Kumatora's when she was a child. It wasn't a bad place, though a bit too close to Ionia's home for all of their tastes. If anyone came looking for them there, they would find him rather quickly. Unfortunately, all their normal hide outs wouldn't work. This one wouldn't either, but nobody had really understood Claus when he said that. They didn't understand what having a body reconstructed and controlled by someone meant. He could be tracked wherever he went. Though he understood this, he need told the others. If they needed to know, they would learn in the future. Besides, their location had never been a secret. They were fairly easy to track down.

A hug was all the twins needed to say goodbye to each other. Though neither really wanted to separate, it was part of their omelette agreement. Oh how Claus had feasted the night before. Lucas ended up having to eat the burnt omelette after Kumatora threw it back in his face. They had said most of their goodbyes that night. The morning was mostly for travel. Still, Claus couldn't resist one last try to keep his brother from leaving him.

"Please don't leave…" he had said as he grabbed his twin's shirt. Lucas made a sad sound, but simply brushed Claus off. Lucas had more important things to do than care for the dead weight that his twin had become.

Claus knew he was deadweight. He knew it from the moment he started following the party. Unlike them, he couldn't deal with the chimeras and dangerous animals very quickly. Instead, they nearly thrashed the boy. At first, the fights had been easy. He would follow form, attack the weak points, and bring down the creatures.

Exhaustion was the first thing to get to him, but he quickly realized how uncomfortable fighting made him these days. He was Claus. He was no longer the Commander. In a fight, though, he was the Commander. Not a trace of Claus' original fighting style remained.

"I'll use a stick like the old days," he had told himself. The boy quickly came to regret that choice. Sticks just didn't do it anymore. Rather, his hand craved the real deal now. He attacked too hard, destroying anything he tried to use. He couldn't deal with such a light weight weapon.

When striking out at opponents, he heard the voices of his instructors back at the Pig Mask army. How to attack, what position to hold… Though Claus tried to block out all memories of that place, he found himself following their instructions. It unnerved him. He didn't want to be the Commander anymore. He just wanted to be Claus.

The boy had realized as the fights began to wear him down. Claus was the weak boy who got thrown off a mountain without even putting a dent in the Drago he was trying to kill. Dragos would never stand a chance against the Commander. The Commander was all Claus ever wanted to be, in the fighting sense at least. Everything else about him was wrong. Claus refused to accept it. Though he knew it was true, he could never accept himself as the Commander.

Somehow the boy had made it all the way to Chupichupyoi Temple without anyone's help. Once outside, he sat down in exhaustion. The others were already inside, about to pull the needle. Claus had barely been able to keep up with them. It wasn't like he wasn't getting attack as well.

It shouldn't take them all that long to pull the needle unless Ionia had set up other guards. Claus doubted that though. He had originally been trying to get through what Ionia had set up and there was no way to without the Magypsy's help. He never did figure out what the secret to getting it to work was. He would never get to know. The thing that could clue the boy in was the fact that the vines that had kept him out were now old and dead. It was like someone had sped up their lives. That didn't seem possible, though, so he put that idea right out of his mind.

The boy wished he had more time to rest before the earthquake told him it was time to move on. If Lucas and his friends came outside and saw Claus there, he'd be sent right back to the cave. His brother had trusted him enough to not to do anything to force him to stay, but that probably wouldn't be the case anymore. Claus had betrayed his trust after all.

He got up and ran to a nearby bush. As he did, he saw someone familiar approaching the temple. Ionia? They had hung on that long? He had never seen a Magypsy fade before. He assumed it happened right away. The boy never expected such a great delay. The pink haired humanoid hadn't seemed to notice him, though. He was glad for that. Ionia would surely tell Lucas and then he would big trouble.

Claus didn't see why there should be such a big problem about him following them, but they seemed not to want him to. He was strong. He wouldn't drag their group down that much. Still, he could do a little damage. Despite accepting himself as deadweight, he had too much pride to let anyone else suggest it.

Shortly after the earthquake he heard a familiar sound. His heart jumped up to his throat. Claus was brave, the Commander was nearly fearless, but they both shared a common fear. There was only one person who had a device that made that sound. It was different from the ships. It was the limo. It was Porky's limo.

Porky was the type of person that would plague Claus' nightmares for the rest of his life. His punishments were nightmares. All those things he'd done to Claus just because he wanted some entertainment for the day. He'd even made the boy drink a deadly poison in front of him just to see how Claus would beg for the antidote. He was someone the older Tazmily twin could never forget.

"Lucas…" he whispered under his breathe. Porky was coming for Lucas. He was going to kill Lucas. Claus could not allow this. Lucas was going to live a long happy life after this ordeal was over if it killed Claus to ensure it.

"LU-" He went to yell to warn his brother when he felt a hand slap over his mouth. Someone had snuck up on him. The red head's eyes widened. There were not many people capable of this, but he had been so distracted in his panic for Lucas' safety that he didn't realize someone had gotten to him. It didn't matter how loud they were. This person was hardly subtle either.

He could hear their jet pack now. It was similar to the sound of his own wings and jet pack. How could he let someone so loud sneak up on him? The boy charge up his canon when he heard the loud sound of horns behind him. In that moment, he knew exactly who snuck up on him.

"Fassad says 'Nwehehehe, looks like those pests have gotten themselves in a bind. I know you must be dying to get your helmet back on, but we've got to get you back to the'… 'Back to the'… I am sorry sir, but I cannot hear you through the boy's shirt. Please take a step back."

The man tried to move away enough to keep his horns away from Claus's shirt, but that wasn't such an easy task. He struggled for a few seconds to get it right. The horned man quickly realized he would have to release his captive to do this. The former Commander, though, was moving before the man released him. Claus tore the person's arm away from his mouth when he felt them moving back to clarify. He pushed forward to get to the limo before Lucas and the others.

He caught sight of Lucas getting into the limo. Oh no, no, no. Porky was going to hurt his brother. Porky was going to tear him apart. If Lucas lucky, the fat king would only turn him into a monster like Claus. If he was unlucky, Porky would make him beg for death as he slowly cut him apart. The fear stopped Claus from being able to form any real words. All he could do was scream for his brother.

The door closed before his sound reached them. The boy tried to run to them, but the limo was beginning to take off. When was he this slow? He had never been this slow before, but when he needed his speed, it was all gone.

"LUCAS!" he screamed. He wondered if his twin could hear him. There was not much chance. The limo was soundproof. All Claus could try was to shoot it down. The image if Lucas laying broken in the wreckage stopped even that.

"Lucas…" he muttered softly. All the strength left his body and he dropped to his knees. He couldn't save his little brother. Claus was a failure again. He could never save anyone.

The boy was snapped out of his horror as something hit him. A metal object, about the size of his head was thrown to him. He looked down and realized very quickly that it was his helmet. He didn't want his helmet, he wanted Lucas back. Looking at it now made his angry. His still charging cannon was pressed up to his once favourite object. He let out a burst of PSI energy that blasted the piece of headwear to bits.

"'Well that wasn't very nice' is what Fassad said." There was the traitorous Locria and his robot again. Claus wanted them gone. They were the reason he couldn't save his brother. If it wasn't for them, he would have saved the younger boy.

"I don't care what's nice or not!" Claus snapped. "Go sit in a hole and rot for all eternity, Locria!"

Fassad let out a somewhat indignant sounding honk. The man crossed his arms under his horns and gave Claus a nasty glare. Even when they had been on the same side, the man had hated Claus. It was something about letting a young boy have such a powerful position and how the boy hadn't looked very intimidating. Claus returned the dislike. Everyone disliked Fassad but nobody could do anything about him.

"Fassad says 'I didn't realize they let a mindless shell have that much information. If you know that I'm a Magypsy, then you have to know that you won't be able to kill me, no matter what you do. The pig king normally would have sent someone more expendable after you, but he needs those fools to continue the search for the final needle. With my fellow Magypsies all gone, it's time for me to fulfill my side of the deal.'" The interpreter said this all in an even tone, but Claus could hear Fassad's cockiness simply from his horns.

"Deal? So you made a deal with him? For what? Money, power? That won't matter after Lucas pulls your needle and you disappear!" Claus got to his feet and aimed his cannon at the final Magypsy. He might not be able to kill him, but he could stun him long enough to get away. From there, he'd go to a base and steal a ship and save Lucas before Porky did anything.

"'You say that, but disappearing was all part of the deal.' Fassad says. He continues with, 'I just didn't want to disappear before my good for nothing siblings.'"

Claus raised a brow in surprise. He had always suspected, but he never expected to hear the Magypsies referred to as siblings. Then again, it made sense why they would be. There was only seven of them, and Claus suspected that those seven were all born at the same time.

"You wanted them gone so badly? Well, now they are. What good has that done you? It's just more lives lost. And your own will be too. How can you think this is a good thing?" the red head found himself yelling. The idea of hurting one's siblings got him all worked up.

"'Simple, boy. You know my name, you should know why.' Fassad says." The interpreter was quiet for a moment. "'Oh right, I remembered that you humans don't study that stuff anymore. I guess I should tell you. Be honoured you get to hear my wonderful story, nwehehehe.'"

"Go cram your honour up your ass!" Claus yelled to the other. Fassad didn't even seem to notice. He went back to blowing his horns away.

"'The Magypsies, creatures born not just able to seal the dragon but born to seal it, were all names after parts of the musical scale in music theory. That's Ionian, Aeolian, Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, Mixolydian and Locrian. Take away the 'n' and you have our names. Locria is a triton rather than a perfect fifth like the others. Cause of that, my siblings would never let me live it down.'" A loud honk stop the interpreter as Fassad was suddenly filled with rage. "I apologise. I will continue with the translation. 'Whatever I did wasn't good enough. It's worse that Locrian is known as the Devil in Music. Anything good I did was cause I was trying to fight my name. Anything bad I did, I was falling to my true nature.' Fassad then gives an angry honk."

Claus wasn't at all fazed by the story. So Fassad had a reason, it didn't stop what he did from being horrible. The former Commander found himself spitting at the final Magypsy, hate filling his every move.

"Well go cry me a river! I don't care how much the other Magypsies made you cry. You made your bed, now sleep in it!"

With that said, the former Commander rushed the Magypsy. The extra horns made it difficult for the man to dodge any attack. All Claus had to do was get in a good blow with his cannon and he could end this. The whole time that Fassad had been honking away, the boy had being charging his attack. The cannon had taken in as much PSI as it could. Though it gave the boy a headache to use that much at once, it would take down the flying bastard.

Fassad let out a loud honk. It took Claus a moment to realize what the man was doing. He jumped away just in time to avoid being frozen. Of course a Magypsy would use PSI. Claus had been a fool to think the large man had nothing to attack with.

The jump set him back a bit, but Claus had good aim. He wanted to be closer to shoot the reconstructed man, but that didn't seem like an option anymore. He could do it from here and still retain the same amount of strength. With this strength, he should be able to kill anyone that he shot. Claus tensed up. Kill? He'd never killed anyone before. …Right?

Memories didn't come back all at once. His time as the Commander was mostly a blur for the boy. Mission after mission blended into one. He only remembered the important things. At least until now.

* * *

_The day was hardly an abnormal one for the Commander. In fact, the only thing that made this day different was because of an odd day he had recently. Master Porky wanted something special. He wanted a friend. At first, the Commander was meant to fill this role, but the false arm and the scars over his body were considered unacceptable by his Master. Instead, he had to seek out someone with a body like his Master wanted._

_He had found one in a small family. There was a boy there with the black hair and purple eyes his Master had demanded. True, the boy was bulker than Master Porky had described, but the Commander didn't sweat the little things. If he took any longer he would be punished._

_The boy had been taken, dressed as his Master wanted, then the Commander was free to leave. Apparently the boy was too disobedient and Master Porky ended up killing him, but that hardly mattered to the Commander. It did get him in a bit of trouble now, though._

"_Give him back!" the woman pounding against his helmet yelled. The Commander didn't know how she found out it had been him that took her son, but she knew. Her anger was not a good thing._

"_Citizen, please stop your actions. If you don't comply, I will have to use force against you." His tone was calm and level despite the hell his ears were going through at the moment. The woman didn't stop though. She was too far past reason to even begin to believe the young soldier._

"_I know you took him! I know it was you! You were asking around about boys like him! What did you do to him, you monster?!" She was just getting louder and louder. The Commander wondered if he should let her wear herself out and just let that be her punishment. She didn't seem to be a threat._

_One look at his soldiers told him otherwise. They would lose respect for him if he let this continue to happen. He would have to take matters into his hands. The Commander gave a rather human reaction, a soft sigh, before speaking again._

"_I did warn you…"_

_The Commander had never heard this sound before. It was a nasty, squishy sound. Though he was trained for this type of situation, he had never had to do it before. The woman didn't even have time to react before it was all over. He had simple rammed his sword into her throat. It had gone right though. Her vocal cords were severed as well, so she could not scream._

_The boy pulled the sword out of her just as fast and stepped back. There was blood all over his front, as well as on his sword. He was more concerned about what kind of damage it would do to his sword, though. The uniform could be washed, but the sword was special. The Commander gave another human like sigh and turned around._

"_One of you, clean this up. As for the others, we will move at double speed to make up for the time lost due to this woman."_

_He didn't even feel sad. He knew he was half human, and therefore expected some sort of negative reaction when it came to his first kill, but he felt nothing. That wasn't a problem, though. He always felt nothing. There was no reason to despair._

"_Oh, and send a letter to her family informing them of her crimes against the king, as well as the reason for her death. Whichever one of you does this will have this as your only duty for the day, besides the cleaning, of course. Decide amongst yourselves."_

_The group scrambled, everyone trying to be the first to start cleaning up the body. Well, accept the one that always gave the Commander gifts. He was a very hard worker. The Commander didn't care though. He didn't care about many things._

* * *

**BOOM!**

The shot from Claus' cannon can within inches of Fassad, but did not hit the man, instead, it flew past harmlessly. Tears were gathering in the former Commander's eyes. He would not be able to take a second shot at the man. He wouldn't be able to hurt him at all.

Claus saw it now. The Commander was Claus and Claus was the Commander. Whatever one of them had done, so had the other. That meant it was Claus who killed that woman without remorse. That meant that it was Claus who was the monster. Yes, he saw it now. The Commander was a horrible monster that did nothing but hurt people. This also meant the same was true for Claus.

Even if it was Fassad, he could no longer kill anymore. The most horrible person in the world, Porky, could be standing in front of him and Claus would never do anything to inflict a fatal injury onto him. If he let himself do that again, he would become even more of a monster.

"What have I…?" he muttered softly. His eyes were unfocussed, as if he had forgotten that Fassad was right there. This gave the man the time to prepare a PK Thunder.

The attack blew Claus back, but it wasn't strong enough to knock the former Commander out. He had landed on his feet, though he was barely able to stabilize himself. The sound of horns notified him that Fassad wanted to continued talking.

"'Nwehehehehehehe. Where is that killer instinct now, Commander?' Fassad asks."

"I am not the Commander anymore!" Claus couldn't help but yell. Despite his fear of killing any someone, he felt himself charging up a PK Thunder of his own. That was right, Fassad couldn't die, no matter what he did. He could just blow him away for now. Claus didn't have to be anymore of a monster than he already was. At least for today.

"Fassad insists. 'Oh, but you are! Allow me to give you a reminder!'" There was a loud honk, louder than any that Claus had ever heard from the other man. It quickly became clear what he was doing. The man simply glowed with power. This had to be the strongest spell that the Commander had ever seen aside from his own PK Love Omega.

"PK Thunder!" Claus tried to stop the other before his finished his spell, but it was already too late. Just before he was hit, Fassad released all the energy he had gathered up. Claus had been informed of this spell, though he could not cast it himself. This was PK Starstorm and this was going to hurt a lot.

There was no use running from the spell. It would hit him even if he ran to the ends of the earth. That was the terror of spells like this. In that moment, the boy thought of something. He was going to New Pork City, and so was Lucas. If he could be strong and endure it, then he could protect his brother. With that thought in mind, he let himself relax.

_I promise, I'll be stronger this time. For you._ That was the last thing that Claus thought for the spell struck, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

**Here we go, entering the final lap of this fanfiction. I only really intend for there to be two more chapters, but depending on the writing, that may get cut down to just one more chapter. Then again, I already had the end of the next chapter planned out and that is not the end of this entire fic. Ah, so troublesome.**

**I hope it was okay that I tried to flesh out Fassad a little bit. I still see him as a horrible excuse for a Magypsy, but hey, I like to believe everyone has a reason for being evil. I also decided to refer to him with male pronouns, since he uses a male disguise as a human. It also sets him aside from the rest of the Magypsies.**


	9. Claus vs The Commander

**One of the reviews on the last chapter reminded me. I should have mentioned it, but the group never gave Claus his sword back. If they did, there was no way he wasn't going to follow them.**

**I don't like to put them in often, but this chapter does have one of my ocs in it. It's just a minor role though.**

* * *

"I am really surprised that you managed to move with injuries like this. Anything I created would have fallen apart long before this. That Dr. Andonuts is a real genius. To be able to create a machine that naturally repairs itself as well as its human parts…"

The female scientist sighed wistfully as she looked over the Commander's body. At the moment, he was hooked up to several wires. It put the mechanical parts of his body into lock down, stopping him from moving or pulling away from the woman's touch. As much as the red haired boy wanted to escape, he knew it was impossible. This body wouldn't listen to him as long as it had machines it could obey. He cursed his traitorous limbs.

Claus had known for a long time that he was more machine than man. He knew what his blueprints were, though he was quite sure he was one of only two people that actually cared about what they were. Porky didn't even seem to care. He knew what parts of him were machines and what parts of him were human. The human parts were weaker, so he was unable to use them to fight the machines. As he was right now, he was useless. Once he unhooked him, though… Then he could break free and get to Lucas.

"You should be more gentle on that body of yours. It's not going to hold up forever. That's alright, though. I'll be here to fix it. I can't let the King's personal toy get all ruined, now can I? It's my job to make sure all his toys stay in working order."

The woman gave a half laugh. This was actually the first time that Claus had met her. Normally Dr. Andonuts did his checkups, but nobody had seen that man since the accident at the Chimera Labs. Actually, most of the scientists went missing around that time. This woman was likely one of the few left. She was nowhere near as capable as the missing doctor, but she had enough skill to keep him alive, for now.

"Now, let's get to the meat and grit of this, shall we? The King said I just had to get you back into working condition, but you were actually working fine when I started. I guess I get my bonus for nothing. Don't worry, he doesn't need you for much, I think. All you have to do it go for a little stroll and then it will be all over. You're lucky you're so important and the King is so impatient. He's being so nice not to punish you for being a bad boy."

The woman reached over to a nearby table and pulled out a box. When she opened it, the boy felt is heart drop. He knew it wasn't one of a kind, but he didn't think they would create a replacement helmet for him so quickly. The brief freedom that he had enjoyed would be over in a few minutes.

_Be strong Claus_, said the voice in his head. It reminded him a bit of his mother. But his mother couldn't protect him. Only Claus could ensure that the helmet didn't take him over.

The woman fit the helmet to his head. At first, it wasn't so bad. He had enough strength now to fight against the effects of the helmet. He wasn't a dying child anymore. The boy could fight this, no matter how good it would feel just to give in to the effects.

"Hmmm… You look like you're in pain," the scientist commented. "That's odd… I thought the sensation was supposed to be pleasurable. It must be something new with this model. It is an upgrade from the latest one after all! But, no need to worry, Aunty Agatha will take care of everything. Let's turn the levels up to max!"

"W-wait!" Forcing his mouth open cause some of the machinery in his face to tear loose. He could taste the blood in his mouth.

"Hmmm? Is something wrong Commander? I thought you liked your helmet. All the records indicate you never had a problem with it. Don't be fickle. Now, quit squirming. …You're such a silly chimera, acting like you're a real person…"

This woman didn't know what was going to happen, but she was cruel. This was one person that wouldn't be missed if the world really did end. Still, if she had a little pity in her, he could get her to stop. Claus spit out a little of the blood at filled his mouth so he could explain.

"If you turn it up that high… You'll fry my brains." Dr. Andonuts had warned him of this effect when he first got his first helmet. If she checked the records, she'd know he wasn't lying. "I… I can fight without it, honest."

"It doesn't matter if your brains get fried. The King told me to make you work for a short while. So what if your brains are fired after that? Then you'll just be thrown out like all the other broken tools. Please don't fight your fate. It will just make it more painful for you when I tear your freedom away from you."

The woman let out a hum as she worked on her computer. Claus knew the commands well enough to know what she was about to do.

"Don't!" he yelled with one last desperate plea to save his mind. He tried to move to stop her, but his body wouldn't let him do that. The jolt to his brain was amazing. He felt amazing. It was like all his injuries had fades. All there was for him was the wonderful sensation of his helmet. The boy closed his eyes. It was time for Claus to go back to sleep.

* * *

When the Commander woke back up, the wires had been removed from his body. The lab was empty except for him now. There was no reason to guard him when he was like this. The helmet killed any rebellious thought. He was the Commander, not Claus, and he was going to serve his King loyally.

The boy stood up and stretched himself. He felt far better than he had for the last few days. The scientists always did their best to heal his body. Speaking of those last few days, they all felt like a blank to the boy. He had gone to pull the needle, and then there was nothing. He didn't know whether he had pulled the needle or not. The boy was sure he would be informed of his next task soon enough. If he had not pulled the last needle then he would do that now.

The sound of the door opening alerted the boy to the fact he was no longer alone in this room. Instead of a human entering, he found it was another robot. To be more exact, it was one of his Master's robotic duplicates. This was normally how he received orders. His Master couldn't leave his special seat, and so when he needed to contact the Commander, it was more convenient to send one of his many robots.

The Commander lowered himself down onto a bow. Though the robots were not his Master, they were his Master's representation in this world. As such, they had to be treated with the same respect as the boy would treat his true Master.

"So my slave came crawling back home. You've been a very bad boy. Spankety, spankety, spankety. I would be punishing you, but I'm not willing to wait for you to go through the recovery time you have to deal with every time I put the tiniest scratch on you." Master Porky paused. They'd been through things like this before. The Commander knew what his Master wanted.

"I am sorry Master. From here on out, I will try to recover faster." Though he knew that was an impossible task, this was the only acceptable answer to his Master.

"You're just wasting time groveling on the ground, not that I don't enjoy it. I've grown bored of this game though. The final needle is said to be located under this very city. You know your job, now go and pull that needle before I get really mad!" The robot stomped on the ground. Like the Commander, it was much stronger than a normal person. The floor shook slightly.

"Of course, Master." The Commander got back to feet. He gave the robot a quick salute before walking away. Of course he had no clue where to go, but someone would tell him eventually. Asking anything more of his Master's robot would be asking for a punishment. Despite his Master's words, he was not going to risk a punishment. Of course Porky would delay work for the chance to torture someone.

He was a monster.

The Commander stopped walking and placed a hand on his helmet. He felt a sudden burst of pain, like he had thought something he wasn't supposed to. How dare he think something like that of his own king? He was meant to loyally serve Porky, not point out all of the pig king's flaws. He was never this rebellious before. Now he was a few seconds late and things were going to be troublesome for the boy.

His head didn't stop hurting just before he wanted it too. Instead, it continued to throb away as he walked through the hall. The rebelliousness must be a side effect of this. The Commander would not allow this to slow him down. He continued to walk through the pain until he found a young soldier.

"Commander, sir! The Colonel has asked me to lead you down to the caves under the city! The needle has been found!" The lower ranked soldier saluted the Commander, looking absolutely terrified. Despite his mask, the Commander knew a fearful voice when he heard it. Or he did now. He didn't thing he could recognize it four days ago.

The Commander nodded to the other soldier. "Please lead me there. It's about time that I got to pulling the needle. The King is impatient."

"Y-yes sir!"

The other soldier jumped slightly at the thought of the impatient pig king and rushed down the hall. It wasn't hard for Claus to keep up thanks to his upgraded legs, but they were nearly to the point of running. The Commander wasn't very fond of that. He wished this could walk. It felt like his body was resisting him, trying to keep him from heading to the needle. It must be exhaustion, though. The Commander did feel unnaturally tired today.

Once they reached the elevators, it was long ride down. This floor was quite high up. The Commander would never understand why the tower was built the way it was. The buttons all lead to the wrong floor. The first thing that anyone that came to work here needed to learn was which buttons when to which floors. It was a time consuming task. One of the random buttons led the Commander down to the caves. Judging for the look the other soldier gave him, the Commander was guessing he had forgotten when button it was. It was good that the Commander was there.

They rode down in silence. It took over a minute to arrive at their location. The last time that the Commander had been down here, it was nowhere near as spacious. There were small pathways, but those there hard for any adult to crawl through. The Commander could fit, but he was the only one able to get to their destination. As a result, he ordered the caves be dug out so they could be properly used.

These days, they were surprisingly well lit. All of the path ways were clear. It was quite obvious where the Commander was supposed to go. With this idea in mind, he no longer needed the soldier to guide him. The boy sped up his walking. Once he pulled the needle, his headache would go away and he would feel better. Surely it was PSI Fever again. He was rather used to those. He got them after he pulled the needles most of the time.

"How far away is the needle?" the Commander asked. The soldier looked at him with surprise. The Commander only spoke when he had to.

"Rather far, sir. There are also several dangerous creatures on the way over. The Colonel should not be very far ahead, though." The soldier seemed to be looking for someone. The Commander wondered for a moment if he was lost. He really shouldn't be. The path through here was rather linear. Perhaps he was looking for the Colonel. That man had wandered farther in than he should have.

It wasn't much further until he discovered what had happened to the Pig Masks sent there to dig up the needle. When they rounded a corner, the Commander and the young soldier saw the bloody remains of the Colonel's cape. The soldier squealed like an injured pig in horror. This caused the Commander to look to him in surprise. Surely he should have expected this.

"It seemed he wasn't prepared to fight all of the monsters down here. I will leave the clean up to you. I must not delay finding the needle…" The Commander went to head out when he felt someone grab the back of his shirt.

"W-wait sir! If the Colonel wasn't strong enough… Won't I die?" His voice irritated the Commander. It only seemed to make his headache worse. He could stay and guard this one soldier, or he could continue with his actual job. The answer to that question was obvious. As much as he head was telling him to stay, the Commander knew what he job was.

"That is your duty as a soldier. I will not be here to coddle you. Clean up this mess so I can pull the needle. I will not accept any excuses." His tone was colder than it normally was. The soldier released him right away.

Normally when the Commander spoke, it had an underlying tone of utter confusion. It was like the boy had just woken up and didn't remember what was going on around him. That tone was now gone. In its place was anger. The Commander was angry about something. Even with the helmet, he felt the ghost of this emotion. It made him want to split his skull open and pull the feelings out.

The Commander continued on throughout the area. For some reason, he didn't have his sword, but that was alright. In his current state, he could fight off any of these monsters easily. It was a simple as a flick of the wrist to him. PK Love was an amazing spell and he had tons of PSI energy to spare.

The boy didn't realize how quickly the PSI drained out of him. The pleasure of wearing the helmet drowned that feeling out. The Commander was blissful in his world of good feelings. He was glad he would be allowed this before the final needle was pulled. It was like an amazing reward.

With his strength it didn't take the boy long to reach the needle. He was only a few feet away from it when something strange happened. He reached for the needle, but his arms wouldn't move. The boy felt both confusion and irritation. Normally he was unable to feel more than one as once.

The aching in his head became absolutely unbearable. The boy dropped to his knees to and cradled his head. He needed to get air. He couldn't breathe in this pain. He had to get the painful thing out of him. The boy removed his helmet, carelessly throwing it to the side and digging at his head. It was too late. The edges of his vision got back and he passed out.

* * *

"_Not you."_

_He awoke to the piercing green eyes of boy staring up at him. The boy had to be a good three years younger than him, with fluffy red hair and a stick in one hand. For some reason they were no longer in front of the final needle. It wasn't artificial light that lit the area now. Instead he was on a sunny plateau. It felt horribly familiar, but the Commander couldn't place his hand on it._

_The boy took a step toward him. The Commander pointed his cannon towards the boy. This didn't make the boy flinch though. Instead, he kept walking towards the Commander, holding s stick like it was the deadliest thing in the world. The boy was fearless. No, the boy was afraid. He was terrified of the Commander and his weapons, but he was brave. Too brave to let something like that hold him back._

_The Commander didn't know why he knew what the boy felt. He just did. Now the Commander was scared too. He'd never been scared before, but now his body shook. He could barely aim at the boy._

_Once the boy was close enough, the Commander realized he knew that face. This boy looked just like the one that had been pulling the needles. He looked the exact same, if his hair was tweaked slightly and his colours were changed. The Commander had fought that blond, he refused to be scared of him._

"_Drop your weapon or I will be forced to use force to stop you," the Commander ordered. He voice shook slightly, though he attempted to keep it even._

_The boy didn't look impressed. "So you'll kill me like that poor woman? How many people have we killed, __**Commander**__?"_

_His name was spit like it was an insult. Was this boy mocking him? The Commander narrowed his eyes. If he had any pride in himself or his job, he would have been furious._

"_I didn't want to admit I was you, you know." The boy continued to speak. "I wanted to believe that you were someone else, and once I was back to myself, that I'd never be you again. That's no how it works, though. I am you, and you are me."_

_The Commander's shaking got worse. He fired a shot at the boy. Though it hit, his attacker shrugged it off like it was nothing. A shot like that could destroy a Pork Tank, yet the boy acted like it was nothing._

"_St-stop saying nonsense. Put the stick down or I will hurt you." The threat was empty. The Commander felt he had lied. A thought of a beautiful woman flashed through his mind. She was scolding him, always scolding him. He was a bad boy. A bad boy, a liar. He would be punished for that. His shaking just wouldn't stop. He was terrified of the boy and the woman._

"_Nonsense? I wish I could say this was nonsense but it's not. I was hasty and rushed to my death. Then they made you from my corpse. You clung to the strength of my heart like a parasite. You used that strength like it was your own, but it's not. This strength is mine and mine alone."_

_The boy placed his free hand on his chest. "I won't let you take this body and use it to hurt Lucas or end the world. I won't hate you, and I won't wallow in self-pity. I have to accept what I've done and go forward. Come on, Commander, it's time to stop fighting ourselves."_

_The boy finally dropped his stick. He held out a hand to the scared Commander. This didn't stop the fear in the older boy though. "I am not you. I am the Commander of the Pig Masks."_

_The red haired boy gave a little laugh. "So am I. I'm Claus, the boy before the Commander. This is my body, and my mind. You're free to stay, but I have to save my brother before you get to play around in here."_

"_Why not just kick me out?" the Commander found himself asking._

"_Cause you're a part of me, for better or worse. Besides, I need your power. With my heart and your strength, we'll be unstoppable." The Commander ended up taking the boy's hand. Claus pulled him closer into a soft embrace. This felt nice. Even the cold hearted Commander found a little smile coming to his face. He didn't believe the boy in the least, but he was willing to give up control. Now the headaches were this boy's problem._

"_Now, let's get out of here." The Commander felt an amazing power welling up. It was stronger than his own PK Love. As he predicted, that was exactly what it was. "PK Love!"_

_The area around them was blasted apart._

* * *

Claus woke with a start. He had been lucky no monsters went close to the needle or he might have been killed in his sleep. The red haired boy got to his feet and dusted himself off. Now he just needed to get back to Lucas and the others and then everything would be alright. As if jinxed by the thought that things could end up alright, he heard a loud explosion from behind him. By the sounds of it, as well as the feeling the boy got in his chest, it was a PK Love.

"L-Lucas?" His brother was here already? Panic filled Claus. He looked back to the needle for a half second. No, he couldn't pull it. Lucas was the hero, not him. Lucas would pull the needle and everything would be okay.

He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. The creatures here were no longer his concern. He was fast enough to dodge and weave around them. The young Commander was able to follow the path back to the exit quite easily. Half way there, he saw the sight that he feared above all else.

Porky was trying to kill Lucas. He had his spider mech bearing down on the boy. Lucas was strong enough to hold it off for now, but he could barely do so. His stick looked like it should give way, but it didn't. Still, the mech wasn't giving way either. Lucas only had the hands he was using the hold it back for now. The spider mech had seven more legs.

It never occurred to Claus to look at what Lucas' friends were doing, or that fact that Duster was charging the mech to kick it. He only cared about his brother in this moment. The thought of fighting Porky made the boy's insides flip upside down, but the thought of losing Lucas was completely unbearable. It left him with no choice but to attack.

"PK Thunder!" He called out. His attack struck near the top of the mech, as far from Lucas as humanly possible.

"What?!" his former master managed to wheeze out. He stopped his attack on Lucas to turn around and look to Claus. The old man's eyes narrowed. "You… I thought I told you to go and pull that last needle! Get on it, slave!"

Claus narrowed his own eyes. With a cold look, he raised his hand up and cast another PK Thunder. "I won't be following your orders anymore. I remember who I am and you'll never take that from me again."

His former master sprayed… Something at all of them. Claus jumped over by Lucas to dodge, but most of the group was not so lucky. Whatever this thing was, it burned like acid. Duster, who had been closest to the mech, about to kick, took the worst of it.

"Glad to see you're back, Claus…" Lucas whispered as Kumatora attacked with an impressive PK Starstorm. "When Porky said that you were back with him, I got scared, but I'm glad you're free again."

Claus gave him a half grin. "Don't worry, I'm not that hard to beat down. Come on now! We've got a massive, fat, disgusting spider to squish!"

Porky howled in rage. "I am not fat!"

He did… Something. The group was blown back close to the edge. Porky was amazingly powerful. It was rather horrifying. Claus couldn't even begin to understand his former master's attacks. He couldn't dodge if he couldn't understand it. The boy looked to his twin with concern. Lucas was even closer to the ledge than he was now. Claus reached out and took the blond boy by the hand. They met eyes for a moment and that was all the agreement they needed.

"PK Love Omega!" The attack blew Porky back considerable. This didn't mean the fight was over, though. They group moved closer to Porky to avoid be forced over the ledge.

"I'm not very fond of people who take my things, you know." Porky hissed in pain as he straightened his mech up. He was about to suck something in. Claus noticed this before his twin. For once, Lucas was the one blinded by anger.

"He's not a thing!" Lucas yelled to the pig king. This left him to get hit fairly badly by Porky's attack. The entire group looked to him. Boney was running over with a thing of life noodles in his mouth, likely so that Lucas could use it to heal. Claus decided to cover the two of them so his brother could get healed.

"PK-" The boy was cut off by a horrible realization. He was out of PSI energy. Aside from the time that the group had sealed his PSI, he'd never been out before. He'd exhausted most of it on the monsters around here and that last attack took all his had left.

"I don't like dogs that snap back and bite their masters any more than I like people that take my things." Claus was stuck between Lucas and Porky. He could handle almost anything that the man could shovel out. What happened he didn't expect. Porky fought mostly with impossible things and using his gut. This time, he attacked using his mech. A leg shot out. Claus was more than fast enough to dodge. However, if he did, it would hit Lucas, who was still out cold behind him.

_Better me than him,_ the redhead thought.

Claus could do nothing by stand there as the leg pierced right through his chest.

* * *

**Fun ending, right?**

**One more chapter left.**


	10. No Crying at the End

**Here it is, the final chapter. I'll keep this thingy short so you can get right to the chapter. Please enjoy.**

* * *

Lucas woke to the taste of life noodles. He was rarely angered enough to let his guard down, but Porky was all that he hated. This was the person who turned Claus against him. This was the person that caused all their pain. Everything wrong with this world stemmed from this boy. Unlike during a normal fight, Lucas was unable to hide himself in cold logic. Instead, he let his anger run his body. This ended up getting him hurt.

He had been so happy when he saw that Claus had come back to their side. They could be a family again. Then Porky had to go and taunt them. He called Claus a thing. Lucas was furious. He had let his guard down and as such took a nasty hit from whatever Porky did.

The boy didn't know how long he'd been out. The cold nose on his hand told him that it was Boney that came to heal him with the Life Noodles. He would normally have patted his dog, but Boney moved his nose away suddenly. Something must be coming at them.

Lucas tried to move his body, but he had just woken up and it was still too sore to move. The Life Noodles, while amazing, worked slower than he would have liked. This could very well spell out the end for him. That's when he looked up and realized someone was in between him and Porky. They had no intension of moving either. Lucas didn't even have to look at them properly to know who they were.

"CLAUS!" he managed to yell. He wanted to yell for his brother to move, but those words wouldn't be fast enough. Even this wasn't. As he made the first sound, metal burst out of his brother's back, having gored through him completely. Lucas gave a horrified scream. The heart. That would have gone right through his heart.

Lucas put all of his PSI energy into a PK Life Up. He was ready to use it on his brother when he heard Claus speak.

"Don't worry Lucas, this doesn't hurt at all."

* * *

_He couldn't see anything. He could only hear the world going on around him. There was a strange beeping noise. It wasn't like anything Claus had ever heard before. It went with a steady rate, a familiar rate. It reminded him of the beat of his mother's heart. That would offer him a little bit of comfort if he could not hear the voices of people around him. They were people that he didn't know. The way that they spoke scared the boy. What were they planning?_

_At first he couldn't make out words. Everything was all grabbled together. The only clear sound was the imitation of a heartbeat. Claus tried to focus on it when suddenly he felt a terrible pain. Something was wrapped around his heart. Something cold and metallic. He couldn't make a sound to express his pain. He wildly searched with all his working senses for the source of this pain. As a result, he finally began to understand to words._

"…_less robot. Didn't you get that? Take this thing out. When I say heartless, I mean completely heartless!" came a voice. Claus did not like this voice. It sounded slightly metallic as well as young. Whoever it was happened to be close to his body._

"_But the body can't sustain itself without a heart!" came the voice of someone else. They sounded farther away. "Surely having a real heart won't effect-"_

"_What I say goes and I say the heart goes!" the metallic child yelled. Claus felt even more fear as the hand around his heart got tighter and tighter until the pain was unimaginable. His mind, no longer able to bare the stress of this, turned off, allowing the boy sleep at last._

* * *

"CLAUS!" someone yelled. Claus wasn't sure if it was Lucas or any of the others. It was more likely Lucas than anyone else. His brother must be horrified when he saw this. Poor Lucas was right behind him, less than a foot back. If there were any blood in this part of Claus' body, his brother would have no doubt been splattered in it.

Claus felt bad for his brother. Nobody except for the doctors that worked on Claus and the boy himself knew the specifics of the changes they had made to his body. To Lucas, it must look like he was stabbed right through the heart. If only had had one of those. That area was nothing more than empty space. The doctors, fearing Porky's wrath, had purposely kept that area blank while moving his heart-lung machine down to his stomach area.

Claus could felt an extremely powerful buildup of PSI behind him. That was more than his brother had to spare at the moment. Though it was painful to speak at this time, he had to reassure his younger brother before the blond did something stupid.

"Don't worry Lucas, this doesn't hurt at all." That was a lie. This hurt like hell. Regardless if the area was empty or not, the attack had cut through bone and skin. Though there was no blood, he felt like his body was on fire. How he kept his voice level despite this pain, he would never know. "This idiot couldn't hurt me if he tried."

"I-idiot?! Says a pile of junk!" Porky tried to pull his leg out of Claus, but the boy placed his one human arm on it, holding it in place. He was sure the old man now regretted giving him super strength. The former Commander quickly turned his cannon arm back to a normal arm by hitting the button on it with his side. He placed that hand on the leg as well.

"If I'm junk, they you're gonna get your oversized ass kicked by junk!" Claus yelled as he began to pull on the leg.

This did not go over as he planned. He thought the leg would come off if he applied enough force. That was not the case. Instead, the whole mech started to lift. Well, he couldn't stop now that he had started. The boy continued to apply force, using all the false strength his machine parts gave him. The mech went up and up. Claus started to bend backwards as he lifted it. After a certain point, the mech simply went over his back.

With how close they were to the edge they both started to go over. Claus took a step back and tripped over his brother. He lost his grip on the machine. It tore out of his chest, causing him a huge amount of pain, and went over the edge of the cliff. It was only because of Lucas that Claus hadn't gone over as well. If he hadn't tripped by pure luck, he probably would have fallen and died.

"Claus! Are you alright? Oh no, you're bleeding!" It was like Lucas didn't take air breaks between speaking. He crawled over to his injured brother. In the process of tearing out of him, the leg of Porky's machine had ripped open part of Claus' stomach. This gave his brother a full view of the machines there. He was surprised he could even bleed still. He thought he was too much machine for that.

"I-I'm gonna need some healing now, but I'll be fine," Claus managed to get out through the pain. He hardly needed to say this as his brother was already working on a PK Life Up. The wound closed up quickly after that.

The burning pain remained though. All the machine parts throughout Claus's body were sparking, having gone into overdrive. The red haired boy suddenly cough up a puff of black smoke, causing his brother to look at him with surprise.

"Are you sure? You're sparking." Claus hadn't realized he was sparking on the outside too.

"I'm a little broken, but I'll heal. It'll just take time. Lucky for us, the pig's out of the way now. And I did it pretty much by myself." He gave his brother a quick wink.

Lucas looked to the red head with a rather surprised expression on his face. "You planned this?"

This got a good laugh out of Claus. His brother still thought he was capable of plans. The more Claus thought of his plans, the more he realised they all amounted to rolling with the punches and trying to recover.

"Sorry, Luc, I was just winging it. It's good though he never looked at my blueprints or I'd be completely screwed." The boy gave another puff of smoke when he finished talking. This didn't stop Lucas from punching him in the shoulder.

"Idiot! You could have gotten killed! Then what am I supposed to do?" Lucas sounded rather angry at first, but that feeling faded quickly. "You're not allowed to die, okay Claus?"

"I'm not gonna." Claus tried to get to his feet. Nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. He could move a little, but something as big as standing up, he couldn't manage. It seemed that the damage that frying his circuitry did was more severe than he had thought.

"Claus, are you alright?" Lucas tipped his head to the side curiously. "You're rocking back and forth. Is something wrong?"

"I can't move."

As calm as Claus tried to be about that, it didn't stop the group from being surprised at his answer. Boney, who was to the boy's right, gave a little whine.

"(You should have been more careful with your body. It's not like healing PSI works on machines.)" It was weird getting scolding by a dog that should rightfully know nothing of machines. Then again, Boney had always been surprisingly smart.

"We can ask Doctor Andonuts to fix you later," Lucas said. He reached under Claus to pick the boy up. Due to his injuries, Claus could tell his brother was struggling a little bit with this. The Life Noodles had helped a lot, but even they could not fix everything.

Duster placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "I'll carry him. You've gotta save your strength for the needle."

Having never pulled a needle himself, Duster probably assumed it took a ton of strength to pull a needle. It was more mental strength than anything. That was something that Claus learned early on. The boy was picked up by the limping man. Lucas didn't protest. Right now, being in Duster's arms was the safest thing.

As much as Claus just wanted to rest, he had an uneasy feeling. He knew how indestructible his former master and his mech were. He was worried they might pop up again. Once they cleared the area, Claus felt a little better. Porky still hadn't shown up. His machine was probably in too much disrepair for that.

The trip to the needle from there on out wasn't very long. They had already made it most of the way there. Claus knew the way and offered guidance whenever any of them hesitated or thought they had gone the wrong way. He insisted it was a short trip, but it was actually much longer when one isn't running is absolute fear.

At last, they had reached the needle. Though everyone looked to Lucas expectantly, he looked to Claus. Claus knew pulling a needle could be both painful and exhausting. If he could, he'd do it for his brother, but he couldn't stand, let alone pull a needle. They both knew this. Lucas was the hero, not Claus. He would be the one to save the world. This was something that had become more obvious during the time they spent together.

"Go on," Claus encouraged. He would gesture to the needle, but even lifting his arms was a bit too much effort for his disused human muscles.

Lucas approached the needle, freezing suddenly as he heard a loud sound. Claus frowned. Now that the worst time for that man to show up. There was no element of surprise when you're climbing up a cliff face by stabbing into it. They could hear him long before he arrived. Normally Claus would have gotten ready to attack, but he was useless as he was.

"Sorry, Claus. I'm going to need my hands as well…" Duster muttered. He placed Claus on the ground. The red haired boy flopped onto his side as the four able bodied fighters got ready for Porky's arrival.

It took a few minutes for the pig king to make his way up to them. There would have been enough time to pull the needle, but with the loud noises, Lucas would not have been able to. Pulling a needle took absolute concentration. If that concentration was broken, even for a moment, the needle would take your whole heart.

"Thought you saw the last of me, huh?" Porky called as his mech finished scaling the cliff. It was in considerable worse condition than it had been when Claus last saw it. One of the legs was missing. It also had dents all over it.

"In that condition, you barely got up here," Kumatora taunted. "Can't you tell when a fight is over? Claus is back with us, you're falling apart. You're as good as done."

"If you really think that's all there is, you're sorely mistaken. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I could have done it the quick and painless way, but now I think I'll go for the painful and slow way. It's more fun to watch the world fall apart slowly, though a bit boring after a while." Porky's robot moved faster than expected. It stood by the needle, trying to prevent the group from getting to it.

"There… Can't be any other way to destroy the world, can there?" Duster looked around as if that could give him an answer.

"I have more power then you could ever imagine. If I can't get the dragon to do it, I'll just blow this whole world up. It won't take long to whip up what I need for that. Right now, I need to get you out of the way. Go disappear or turn into the garbage you are." With that, the fight had begun.

Claus was useless, all he could do was watch. It was like the bottom of his stomach fell out. Lucas was right in front of him, people Lucas cared about were there too, but he could do nothing to protect them. Despite that, he had a bit of confidence. Lucas had become so strong since they had gotten separated. His brother would surely be able to bring down the pig king.

Porky sprayed something in all directions. At the last minute, Lucas threw up a shield that protected the group from the brunt of the attack. With Porky needing to recharge for a half a second between attacks, the group struck.

Boney was the fastest, so his attack connected first. He jumped over on leg and slammed into the side of the mech. This unsteadied it, causing some of the already damaged legs to bend badly. As soon as Boney had done that, Duster was there with a swift kick. The mech tipped towards the cliff again, but it didn't go over. The man looked like he wanted to kick again, but there wasn't time. The man and dog jumped back just in time to dodge a PK Lightning Beta from Kumatora.

Porky's machine creaked, as if it was about to go down. This didn't lower the group's guard, which was lucky. The machine quickly lashed out at Boney. It would have been fatal if he was not prepared. The leg cut down the dog's right forepaw. He gave a loud whine. Duster was there in an instant to grab the dog and pull it out of the range of danger. Lucas moved next, casting a quick PK Lifeup on the dog before it lost too much blood.

Rather than use another PSI attack, Kumatora raced forward and punched the machine. It creaked forward a little. She did considerably less damage than Boney or Duster, but that didn't mean her strength wasn't impressive. She was still too close to the device at that time to realize that Porky was about to attack.

She was thrown back without any understanding of what even hit her. Lucas ran and caught her before she was sent over the edge. The blond boy skidded back a little bit, but was relatively uninjured. The princess gave him an appreciative pat on the head before readying herself for the next round.

Boney and Duster raced forward once again. As non-PSI user, they were limited to certain attack patterns. At least that was what Claus thought. Boney leapt onto the mech, right where Porky was. He gave the man a harsh bite before jumping away. That gave Duster the chance to throw wall staples at the old man. Unfortunately, Porky's machine was faster than that and simple knocked the staples away from him.

"He's quick for a fatty…" Kumatora grumbled. She was louder as she though, because an angry shout from Porky came in rebuttal of her statement. Claus wondered why she had bothered to be so loud.

"I am not fat! This is all muscle!" he yelled to her. The old child spit something at the girl, but she simply rolled out of the way to dodge.

"Sorry, but last time I checked, muscle doesn't jiggle like that!" the pink haired girl yelled as she came out of her roll. At this point, Claus realized she was taunting the pig king to draw his attention. Lucas looked to be charging up his PSI for the next strike.

"I'll make you sorry for saying that!" the pig king shouted. He attempted to attack her twice more in rapid succession. The first attack missed, but the second was too fast for her.

"Kuma!" Duster yelled as he ran over. Unlike Lucas, he had no PSI and knew nothing of the plan. He must have assumed she was really hurt. Still, the girl brushed him off.

"I'm made of tougher stuff than that. That lard cake couldn't put a scratch on me!" she continued to taunt, wiping the blood from her face. The last attack had thrown her to the ground, reopening an old head wound.

Porky gave another angry cry and lashed out as the two. Both Kumatora and Duster were fast enough to jump out of the way of this attack. The pig king, so focussed on the person taunting him, didn't notice the dog running at him. Boney attacked the side of the mech with more legs, forcing the machine up. It was unable to rely on the side with fewer legs and ended up tipping over. This revealed a large crack in the bottom of the machine.

"PK LOVE OMEGA!" Lucas yelled out. The attack shot directly at the crack at the bottom of the device. Having taken so much damage, the whole thing began to spark. Most of the legs burst off, leaving only Porky's bed area.

The pig king tried to fiddle with the controls, but the machine was completely wrecked. He was silent for a second before finally speaking.

"I'll never die. I'll never die, nor will I ever be beaten." He spoke with the pettiness of child who refused to lose as a game. "…But, it appears my machine is out of power for the moment. You haven't won, so you know. I'm just going to duck inside this 'Absolutely Safe Capsule' for the time being. When I'm inside, attack will have no effect on me whatsoever."

A metal ball, about the size of a human fell from the roof and bounced beside the old man. It had the symbol of the Pig Mask Army. Claus knew right away this was the capsule Porky spoke of, but he doubted it was as safe as the pig king believed it to be.

"I'm sure you're thinking to yourself 'there's no such thing as absolutely', but there is such a thing… And this is it!" Claus would have jumped if he could. He was rather surprised that Porky was actually able to guess what someone was thinking accurately. With the pig king's twisted point of view, he was wrong on such guesses most of the time. "The Absolutely Safe Capsule I tricked Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! ME! All for me!"

The old man began to laugh, but his coughs cut it off. The capsule floated up into the air and then hovered over Porky, pulling the man inside. As he entered, he gave one last statement. "It's not like the dragon's really going to help you. I bank on it destroying this world more than helping it."

With that, Porky was sealed away. No matter how hard the group hit the capsule, all they could do was roll it. It rolled back and back until it reached the edge of the cliff and rolled off.

"As bad as Old Porky was, I still feel a bit bad for him. This capsule is absolutely safe…" The group turned to see Dr. Andonut approaching. Claus would have asked how the man made it all the way here without being attacked by any of the creatures down here, but he remembered the fact the man was actually quite gifted with a gun. "Once you're in, you can never come out. So the world is absolutely safe from Porky as he is safe from it. I did tell him he shouldn't use it. I wonder, am I wrong to feel this way about it?"

"Yes."

"No."

"(Yes.)"

"Yes."

"Hell yes."

The only compassionate answer he got was from Duster. Kumatora's harsh nature wouldn't allow her pity for someone so cruel. As for the twins and their dog, they'd gone through enough at that man's hands that they couldn't forgive him no matter how terrible the fate he put himself through was.

"I guess in the end he got what he wanted though, eternally safe, but never able to change that." The white haired doctor sighed. "Well, I see that the capsule has already been used, so there is no need for me to stick around. Good luck to all of you in saving the world."

Like that, the strange doctor wondered off. Claus was a little confused as to why he didn't bother to question anything, but that was okay. He could talk to that man later when he got his repairs. Duster returned to Claus's side and picked the red head back up again. It was better than laying on the ground when this amazing thing was about to happen.

"Claus…" Lucas muttered. "I'm going to be the one to pull the needle, okay? I'm sure that you have a good heart now and it would turn out well either way, but…"

Claus shook his head, using all the effort he could. "It wouldn't turn out well if I pulled the needle. I think too much with revenge and in the moment. You're the heroic one, Lucas, not me. You're the one willing to forgive everyone and make this place like new. That's what this world needs, a hero like you, not a guy like me."

Lucas was still for a moment. Once that moment was up, he walked over to Claus and Duster and pulled his older twin into a quick hug.

"Thanks Claus. I really needed that. I promise, I'll do everything I can to fix this world." With that, Lucas let go and headed to the needle.

Once the younger Tazmily twin reached the needle, he took a sharp breath. He allowed the power of PK Love to fill his body, teal green lines showing all over his skin. Finally, the boy reached down and pulled the needle. That was when the world began to fall apart.

* * *

It had been several months since Lucas pulled the needle and saved the world. Apparently, there was now more to the world than the Nowhere Islands, but nobody was ready to check yet. The Dragon had warned the blond twin that the past could not be undone, and so nobody who died was returned. However, the land was changed for the better.

Tazmily was back to the way it was supposed to be. There were no longer large building and the technology had disappeared. A lot of people were upset over this, but once things began to settle back into their old ways, people found themselves grateful. They had missed having a connection to everyone in the village. It was back the way it was supposed to be. Everyone took care of each other and everyone always had enough to eat. That also counted for the new people, even those who were former members of the Pig Masks.

The citizens of Tazmily were shockingly forgiving when they realized the majority of these soldiers were torn from their own times and brought here to fight for Porky. They were welcomed into the village, though most were forced to stay in the overcrowded Inn until housing had been built for them.

There was need for more labour than ever before. Most of the soldiers were hesitant, but eventually offered their help in creating these new homes. Claus was the first to offer his help. Sometimes he wondered if the soldiers followed him into that choice because they were still scared of him. Still, it was nice to have the help.

Lighter had taken Claus as an apprentice when it came to carpentry, which was helpful. It meant he outranked most of the people that tried to help, with the exception of Fuel. Fuel would never let him live down the fact that he was the senor apprentice and Claus was the junior. With his training, Claus was able to help the volunteers learn how to build properly, something he considered worth Fuel's teasing. His PSI was also helpful. He couldn't count the number of time he had to heal someone's hand after they drove a nail through it. Fuel would never live down the fact that he once had to get his hands fixed by Claus as well.

The harvest season was equally difficult. The town was having trouble making enough food to support everyone. More fields had to be dug up. Once again, the new folks were pressure into that work. Claus had once again volunteered himself, having taken a short leave from working for Lighter. Lucas had offered to help on this too, though he was there less often because he had to help their father deal with the sheep.

Today was another day of carrying rocks out of the field. It was far too hot for their type of work, but Claus wasn't going to back down. The boy struggled a little with the lifting. While one of his arms was still strong enough, the new arm the Dragon had given to him still needed gather a little more muscle. Having inherited Lucas' heart, the Dragon also inherited his love for his twin. He was glad for the arm, he just wished it wasn't so weak.

"This was easier when I was made of metal," Claus couldn't help but 'comment insightfully'.

"Well then, Mister Complainy Pants, maybe I shouldn't have asked the dragon for new body parts for you." Lucas wasn't all that far away, carrying several rocks of his own. Unlike Claus, he had kept his muscles.

"Sorry, sorry. Thanks for getting my junk back." The boy noticed his brother flush red slightly and groaned. "Not that junk, get your mind out of the gutter, Lucas."

Lucas looked away from his brother, pouting slightly. "Well, you could have worded that better."

"Only someone with a dirty mind goes in that direction." Claus began to carry the rocks he had gathered back to the pile they were forming. "Yeah, but also thanks for getting my junk back."

Lucas nearly tripped, dropping his rocks everywhere. "Damn it Claus!"

"It's not my fault that you're a klutz." Despite his words, the older twin walked back over and helped the blond gather rocks again. "I am glad to have my body back, I really am. It's just hard adjustment."

"I know." Lucas stood back up and went back to carrying his rocks away. "You'll get there eventually."

"Yeah, I know. I mean, I do have a supportive little brother to help me." Claus stood back up and ruffled Lucas' hair. His got his arm swatted away.

"You're only older by a few minutes." This had always been a sore spot for Lucas, but he had more or less accepted it after the separation. Now it was something they could talk playfully about. More than anything, though, Lucas was upset that Claus ruffled his hair. He worked hard to make it look nice.

"Older is older. Sorry bro, you lose." Claus stuck his tongue out at his brother. Lucas turned away from him in mock anger.

"Someone's not getting an omelette tonight…" Lucas muttered.

"Oh come on, that's not fair." Claus gave a small whine.

"All's fair when it comes to omelettes. You were the one that taught me that, after all. …Omelette thief." Lucas stuck his tongue out at Claus. "Now come on, those were the last rocks. We're done for the day. Let's go home."

As Claus followed his younger twin back to the house, he couldn't help but feel that there was no happier end for himself and his brother.

* * *

**And that's it. That's the end of the story. Now I am start working on my other fic ideas. I hope everyone enjoyed this fic. I did my best to give it a happy ending. **

**There were a lot of scenes that I intended, but never got to write. Still, I'm mostly happy with the way that this fic turned out. By the way, the last scene was originally supposed to be between Claus and that one Pig Mask that has a crush on him (which is based on the one Pig Mask at Thunder Tower who gives you a gift, thinking you're the Commander, and asks all flustered). I figured it worked out better with Lucas and Claus, because I need more Lucas and Claus fluff.**

**Also, the hell yeah was Claus. I thought I should clarify.**


End file.
